The trade policy specifies that "for all goods and services exported from India, services received, rendered abroad, wherever possible, shall be exempted from service tax".
Cognizant reported a significant increase in net income for the December quarter, driven by AI efficiencies and strong performance in the financial services sector. The company also announced a major deal and provided guidance for the upcoming year.
News agencies, which fulfill certain criteria, are to be exempted from payment of service tax, Finance Minister Pranab Mukerjee said on Friday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is promoting India as a global hub for digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence, highlighting the government's incentives for data center investments and inviting the world's data to reside in India.
Budget 2026 sticks to fiscal discipline, shuns populist measures despite five key state elections coming up, but ends up rattling stock markets with a higher transaction tax on derivatives trading.
Earlier, the customer paid service tax on 1 per cent of the premium. From the next financial year, this will go up to 1.5 per cent.
State FMs okay list of tax-exempt services with certain riders.
The central government has proposed just two tax rates of 5 per cent and 18 per cent in the revamped Goods and Services Tax (GST), slated to replace the current indirect tax regime by Diwali this year, highly placed sources said.
The Haj Committees and Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam Ltd, which organise the religious pilgrimages will not have to Service Tax.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had proposed to introduce a service tax of five per cent on hotel room charges and three per cent on air-conditioned restaurants that serve liquor.
Trade deals ease risks for Indian equities, but weak demand and stretched valuations raise questions over whether optimism -- especially in smallcaps -- can turn into a sustained bull run, points out Debashis Basu.
'LIC will reduce but not fully exit its stake in IDBI Bank, which remains an important bancassurance partner,' says LIC of India' MD and CEO R Doraiswamy.
Move seen as prelude to GST rollout; rules for Cenvat credit also likely to be simplified.
Envisaging a wider role for professionals, Company Secretaries have asked the government to make mandatory issuance of a service tax compliance certificate by companies.
Two-wheeler (2W) major Bajaj Auto on Friday posted its highest ever quarterly revenue and profit during the third quarter of 2025-26 (Q3FY26). Bajaj Auto's consolidated net profit for the quarter grew by 25 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 2,749 crore, with the revenue also growing 23 per cent to Rs 16,204 crore.
'The trade deficit in some sectors is huge and that is an area of opportunity to localise.'
The Delhi High Court has asked the central government why it cannot reduce the GST on air purifiers, considering the poor air quality in Delhi. The court's concern is that the current 18% GST makes air purifiers unaffordable for the common man.
The government seems to be contradicting its earlier clarification that "computer-enabled services, namely, back office processing, shall not be subject to service tax", opines Sachin Menon and Prasad Paranjape.
Shares of brokerage-related companies nosedived 18 per cent on Sunday after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed raising securities transaction tax on commodity futures to 0.05 per cent from 0.02 per cent in the Union Budget 2026-27.
The life insurance industry recorded nearly 40 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in new business premiums (NBP), aided by the rationalisation of goods and services tax (GST) on individual life insurance premiums, which has made policies more affordable for consumers.
Facing an annual loss of a whopping Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion), shipowners have pleaded with the finance ministry to keep them out of service tax net and exempt them from withholding and fringe benefit taxes.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the Board Of Control For Cricket In India's plea against a tribunal order asking it to pay around Rs 18 crore as service tax for video graphing matches and selling the feed to private sport channels.
The government is considering to enact Service Tax Act and is likely to allow states to levy the tax on local items after nationwide value-added tax is introduced, a senior official of Central Board of Excise and Customs said on Thursday.\n\n\n\n
Capex, infrastructure development, and prudent fiscal management are the key focus areas in the Budget, says Nilesh Shah.
Base revisions are technical exercises, but history shows they can significantly reshape the narrative around India's growth performance.
Afghans have deep self-respect and are the last people to put up with humiliation. Is it any surprise that relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have touched an all-time low and the two countries are now at war? asks M R Narayan Swamy.
The SC has gone a step further to state that even if one were to not apply the codified GAAR provisions, the judicial GAAR would continue to apply, point out Pranav Sayta and Bhargav Selarka.
India will now face a lower reciprocal tariff of 10 per cent, down from 25 per cent, after US President Donald Trump announced a new global levy on items imported into America in the wake of the Supreme Court verdict against his sweeping duties on several nations.
The local chapter of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Coimbatore has again appealed to the Centre to reconsider the imposition of service tax on goods transportation.
Ministry will give relief to exporters through a mechanism that will enable a timely refund of credit balance and time-bound refund of additional duty of customs.
The levy will be 10%, with an abatement of 50%, effectively bringing down the service tax levy to 5% on the tariff.
The key question is how much of the latest growth record represents recovery from the 2020-2021 downturn, and what is the sustainable growth rate now, asks T N Ninan.
Rural India outpaced urban centres in passenger vehicle sales in 2025, recording a growth of 12 per cent compared with 8 per cent in cities.
Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty dived sharply by nearly 2 per cent on Sunday after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed a hike in the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on derivatives. Reversing the early gains, the 30-share BSE Sensex plunged sharply by 2,370.36 points or 2.88 per cent to slide below the 80,000-mark at 79,899.42 in afternoon trade as the finance minister announced a hike in STT on futures contracts to 0.05 per cent from the current 0.02 per cent.
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To get what it thinks are its dues, its brass have directed; construction, realty, renting of property, personnel supply, security & goods transport among those under lens
The Budget reflects a clear focus on strengthening India's long-term prospects by leaning on nation-building sectors such as infrastructure, manufacturing, and technology while maintaining fiscal responsibility.
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