'Given that India underperformed emerging markets by 28 per cent in 2025, the worst performance in over 30 years, the timing of the sharp STT hike could have been better.'
The automobile and auto-ancillary sector is expected to show strong Q3FY26 results, aided by festival-led demand, rationalisation in goods and services tax (GST) rates for select categories of vehicles, easing interest rates, and improving rural sentiment.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has started tightening the noose around tax evaders. This year, the department intends to profile banking and financial services, port services and business auxiliary services to pinpoint taxability of various components to enforce compliance. More services will be profiled in subsequent years.
The purge in Washington does not pause the war. Strikes continue, Hormuz remains closed, and Brent crude is still dancing around $109 a barrel. For India, the command chaos in the Pentagon is another layer of uncertainty piled on five weeks of conflict that was already straining every buffer Delhi has.
As the service tax department is probing the evasion of service tax on bulk discounts offered by the print media to advertising agencies
While this doesn't mean that air travel is now a breeze, what it does mean is that you now have more rights and more control over your money.
Though levy of service tax on domestic air travel is negative, given the rebound in air travel, the players can fully pass on the impact to customers through hike in fares
Skoda India is focusing on cleaner fuel options, including CNG and EVs, while compact SUV Kylaq drives volumes, expands first-time buyers and strengthens the brand in India's competitive market
The Supreme Court of India has struck down key provisions of the 2021 Tribunals Reforms law, citing violations of separation of powers and judicial independence. The court restored earlier directions on tenure for tribunal members.
The UK High Court has rejected Nirav Modi's attempt to reopen his extradition case, citing the Indian government's comprehensive assurances against torture as sufficient to allow his transfer to India.
There is record underperformance and under-ownership. Some of this is cyclical and will turn on its own. However, we also need to regain our growth credentials. For this, both the government and companies have a role to play, as do investors, points out Akash Prakash.
The government's Budget announcements providing tax holiday for data centres, setting up of city economic regions (CERs) and funding to improve infrastructure in Tier-II and -III cities may give an indirect boost to India's realty sector, said industry executives.
India has set a target of $160 billion for merchandise exports during 2007-08.
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.
The Budget emerges as a measured, credible and forward-looking policy document that reinforces India's commitment to remaining a stable, reform-oriented economy amid an increasingly fragmented global landscape, says A Balasubramanian.
Some radio taxi operators are avoiding service tax payments, forcing the revenue department to take necessary steps, including coercive measures, to recover the dues, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.
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.
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.
The proposed 'Next Gen GST' with sweeping reforms, lower tax rates, and just two slabs, aims to boost the economy amid tariff threats and set the stage for a single tax rate regime by the time India becomes a developed nation, government sources said.
Filing a belated return is far better than not filing at all.
'The trade deficit in some sectors is huge and that is an area of opportunity to localise.'
An embarrassed Central Excise Department on Tuesday hastily withdrew notices sent to four Bharatiya Janata Party offices demanding service tax on prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's rallies after angry reaction from the main opposition party which questioned the government's motive.
rediffGURU T S Khurana answers readers' personal income tax queries
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.
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.
They are not just underreporting income; they are reshaping what the income tax system perceives, says study.
India Inc on Tuesday sought tax cuts in the forthcoming Budget, even as it asked the government to move towards an effective goods and services tax rate of 15 per cent in the next few years.
Private sector lender IDFC First Bank has lowered its savings account rates and introduced new slabs for small and medium balance categories, effective January 9, 2025, as per its website. The interest slabs and rates for higher balance accounts remain unchanged. Despite the revision, the bank continues to offer one of the highest savings account interest rates in the industry among mid-sized banks.
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.
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.
India's retail inflation, which has stayed below the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) 4 per cent target in recent times, is likely to remain benign in the coming months, RBI Deputy Governor Poonam Gupta said in a speech, on Friday, which was uploaded on the central bank's website on Tuesday. Headline inflation dipped to multi-year lows of around 1.5-2.8 per cent in late 2025.
The government said that service tax on foreign exchange transactions would be capped at Rs 5,000. The announcement will provide relief to market participants who feared high tax incidence would lead to a sharp decline in foreign exchange transaction volumes.
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.
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.
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.
Singh has also sought details from the Finance Ministry on the issue, said Chandy who raised objections before the Prime Minister over the reported move by the Government to levy the tax on the money of Indians working abroad.
'Except for extremely conservative investors, others can consider allocating 10 to 20 per cent of their portfolio to small caps.'
'The next two to three weeks will not be decided in Washington.' 'They will be decided in Tehran, in whatever calculation Iran makes about the costs of continued resistance against the costs of appearing to have yielded.'
