The proposed exemption in customs duty on import of lithium, cobalt and other rare minerals in the Union Budget 2024-25 is likely to lower the battery production cost and help in making electric vehicles more affordable for the buyers, auto industry leaders said on Tuesday.
Telecom service providers have doubled down on their demands for a proposed fair-share charge (FSC) to be levied on major over-the-top (OTT) service providers, opening up the 6 GHz spectrum band and increasing the number of testing labs for telecommunication products. Telecom industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Wednesday said these were the topmost demands for Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. The industry body wants this additional capital expenditure to be borne by these Large Traffic Generator (LTGs) OTTs as a proposed fair-share charge.
The best solution would be the one followed in 2018 -- allow cost indexation until March 31, 2024 -- but exit at any time. The second-best alternative would be to allow time until March 31, 2025 for investors to exit their investments under the old indexation regime, points out Harsh Roongta.
Idan Amedi, 35, was fighting as an IDF reservist. He was airlifted to a hospital on Monday where he was sedated and received treatment.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee asked all chief ministers to reduce state levies on diesel, kerosene and cooking gas to mitigate the impact of the price hike on the common man.
The penetration levels in rural and semi urban areas can be significantly enhanced, and government can help in this mission through reduction and rationalization of levies.
Telecom services providers have urged the Ministry of Finance to suspend the universal service obligation (USOF) till the existing corpus is exhausted. In their Budget recommendations, they have also pressed for an exemption from the service tax on "assignment of right to use natural resources" and the slashing of Customs duty on telecom equipment to zero. The Cellular Operators Association of India (Coai), which represents private sector telecom operators Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, called for abolishment of USOF levy.
Greece beat England for the first time as striker Vangelis Pavlidis's double earned the visitors a richly-deserved 2-1 victory.
With production hitting a three-year low of 14.7 million tonnes in this sugar season (October to September), the government is also expected to double the levy quota for the PDS from 10 to 20 per cent to tide over shortages. The levy price and quota act as a notional benchmark for open market sugar prices, which have doubled to Rs 34 to Rs 35 a kg since last September, owing to a global shortage. The price of levy sugar is half that of the open market price.
Making cash payments at bank counters to settle your credit card dues is getting expensive. Credit card issuers led by ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have started levying a fee on such payments.
rediffGURU Samkit Maniar answers readers' personal income tax queries.
The Department of Telecommunications, which has been mandated to simplify the multifarious levies, would introduce the new regime in phases.
Invest in MFs for liquidity and choice of funds. Invest in NPS for the tax benefits, tax-free rebalancing, and for earmarked savings for retirement.
Most travel agents in India have refused to levy the transaction fees of Rs 350-10,000 on air passengers.
After reducing duties on petroleum products, the Centre has now asked the states to follow suit.
Hospitality and travel sector players on Tuesday demanded infrastructure status for the hotel industry besides measures such as tax exemption on LTA annually to boost domestic tourism ahead of the Union Budget. They also recommended removal of the current TDS levied on automated bookings for internal or closed user groups such as business travel platforms and reducing the total number of licenses required to establish a hotel. "A full-blown infrastructure status for the hotel sector and further rationalisation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and a Central single window clearance for hotel projects are some of the major expectations from the Budget 2024," Roseate Hotels & Resorts CEO Kush Kapoor said in a statement.
Stocks of sugar companies rose after the development. At the Bombay Stock Exchange, Bajaj Hindusthan, India's biggest producer, gained 4.25 per cent to close at Rs 121.35, Balrampur Chini gained three per cent and closed at Rs 88 while Renuka Sugars gained four per cent to Rs 68.
Reliance Industries has strongly defended its decision to impose a marketing margin over-and-above the government-approved sale price for KG-D6 gas, saying the levy was to cover for the risk and cost associated with marketing of gas.
National-award winning actor, producer, hotelier, ex-politician, cricket team owner, philanthropist, highest tax payer, reality show judge, animal lover and, above all, people's hero -- Mithun Chakraborty -- who has been conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke Award -- is truly a force of nature, notes Sukanya Verma.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved changes to GST laws to levy a 28 per cent tax on the full face value of bets in online gaming, casinos and horse race clubs, sources said. The amendments to the Central GST (CGST) and Integrated GST (IGST) acts, which were approved by the GST Council last week, are likely to be introduced in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament, which will end on August 11. The GST Council in its 51st meeting on August 2 recommended amendments to the Schedule III of the CGST Act, 2017, to provide clarity on the taxation of supplies in casinos, horse racing and online gaming.
The British government may levy "fat tax" on junk food and sugary drinks in a bid to reduce obesity among consumers and reduce fiscal deficit, a media report said.
Mohammed Shami went through the toughest phase of his career in 2018 when he had to battle his way against allegations of match-fixing levied by ex-wife Hasin Jahan.
With this latest notice, the Income Tax department has raised a total demand of Rs 3,567 crore from the Congress.
IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack begins by asking why the hijack lasted seven days and ends in wondering if the good guys fought the bad ones hard enough, observes Sukanya Verma.
The BSE faces a larger outgo after regulatory clarity on the fee to be paid to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) as a turnover charge on options volume. The market regulator on Friday directed the exchange to pay a regulatory fee on the 'notional value' of annual turnover.
The government has cut windfall gains tax on domestically-produced crude oil to nil while continuing the rate at zero on the export of diesel and ATF. The government has slashed the special additional excise duty (SAED) on crude oil produced by companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to nil from Rs 4,100 per tonne with effect from Tuesday, an official order dated May 15 said. This is the second time that the levy, which was introduced in July last year in the form of a cess to tax supernormal gains of oil producers and fuel exporters, has been cut to nil for domestically-produced oil.
Sebi penalised Shruti Vishal Vora - found guilty of leaking price sensitive information related to financial results of Wipro, Asian Paints and Mindtree, and Parthiv Dalal for similar action in case of Wipro earnings.
The government has cut windfall profit tax on export of diesel and ATF to their lowest while also reducing the levy on domestically-produced crude in line with softening international oil prices, according to an official order. The levy on crude oil produced by companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has been cut to Rs 4,350 per tonne from Rs 5,050 per tonne, the order dated February 15 said. Crude oil pumped out of the ground and from below the seabed is refined and converted into fuels like petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF).
Softening its stand on reduction in access deficit charge, a levy paid by private operators to BSNL for rural telephony, the department of telecom on Tuesday said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India must ensure that by doing so the revenues of
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced income tax relief for the middle class, a Rs 2 lakh crore outlay for job creation schemes over the next five years and a spending splurge for states run by her party's new coalition partners as she unveiled the Modi 3.0 government's first budget after the general elections.
Not filing an ITR or paying the tax dues on the deceased's behalf can lead to penal consequences.
Adding petrol and diesel to GST was a challenging task due to their significant role as revenue generators for both the central and state governments.
The aviation regulator slapped fines amounting to Rs 2.75 crore on Indian airlines in 2023, marking a 39 per cent rise in financial penalties from Rs 1.97 crore in 2022. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it imposed fines on domestic carriers such as Air India, IndiGo, AirAsia India and SpiceJet for issues related to non-compliance in 2023. The regulator also carried out a record number of 5,745 surveillance activities in the year to ensure compliance by airlines, aerodrome operators, and aviation personnel among others.
The government has brought back the windfall profit tax on domestically produced crude oil after international prices firmed up while the levy on export of diesel has been cut to nil, according to an official order. The levy on crude oil produced by companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is now Rs 6,400 per tonne with effect from Wednesday, the order dated April 18 said. At the last revision on April 4, windfall tax on domestically produced crude oil was cut to nil as international oil prices dipped below $75 per barrel.
To increase the adoption of credit on United Payments Interface (UPI), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is looking at an interchange fee for transactions lower than that for a credit-card transaction. Sources in the know said these charges could be 1-1.2 per cent. Fintech participants concur with the view that the interchange fee is expected to be lower than that for a credit-card transaction.
