With the inclusion of 14 items, the total number of services in the negative list will go up to 38.
There are a number of steps taken that will leave more money in the hands of the taxpayers.
These include the reduction in tax rates under the new tax regime, increase in standard deduction, allowing tax collected at source to be adjusted against tax deducted at source from salaries, notes Harsh Roongta.
Fitch Ratings on Wednesday raised India's GDP growth forecast to 6.9 per cent for current fiscal year, from 6.5 per cent earlier, citing strong June quarter growth and domestic consumption-led demand.
Lower rates effectively increase disposable income, strengthen purchasing capacity, and support broader consumption growth.
Your visit to the neighbourhood beauty parlour, dry cleaner or a cyber cafe may become cheaper in the next financial year.
'Today, we have 2 million active drivers earning through our platform every month.'
'We expect this festival buying spirit to continue in October as well, with upcoming festivities including Dhanteras and Diwali, which traditionally witness spirited buying from customers.'
Taking a serious note of the situation, the civil aviation ministry said it has invoked regulatory powers to ensure fair and reasonable fares across all affected routes.
India's housing market has remained resilient this festival season (Dussehra-Diwali period), despite global macroeconomic challenges, tech-sector layoffs, and affordability pressures, with developers reporting 10-25 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) rise in home sales across major cities.
Seven more services such as commercial property renting, fax, pager and content for telecom will become costlier from June 1 with the government bringing these services under the tax net.
'Tax officials view most taxpayers as evaders.' 'The I-T department has a perverse incentive to raise unreasonable demands since the one-fifth tax collected counts towards officials' collection targets,' observes Harsh Roongta.
Laying the roadmap for the introduction of a goods and service tax (GST), state governments on Tuesday proposed a dual GST structure, with two rates for goods and a single rate for services. The tax would be levied both by the Centre and the states, though there is still no clarity when the new tax regime will be implemented.
Asian Paints reported a good performance for the second quarter (July-September) of 2025-26 (Q2FY26), with some help from base effects, despite strong competition and extended monsoon. Volume grew in low double digits in the key domestic decorative paints, and value in that segment grew by 6 per cent. Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) grew 21 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), and PAT (profit after tax) grew 14 per cent. Asian Paints also defended market share better after several quarters where it had lost ground to Birla Opus.
A series of decisions were taken under the Public Health Department, including an approval to increase honoraria for field-level workers engaged under the Ayushman BharatPradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana and Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Jan Arogya Yojana.
'Non-compatible with Western Civilization' is about as vague and jingoistic as it gets and Trump saying this gives full license to his acolytes to go full throttle on making life as difficult and scary as possible for as many non-white people as possible,' notes Sree Sreenivasan.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that raising the FDI limit to 100 per cent in the insurance sector will help attract more capital, improve competition and increase insurance penetration by making policies more affordable.
'Earnings growth will be the main driver of India's market in 2026, with profits expected to rise 9% to 10% in H2 FY26 and accelerate to 12% to 15% in FY27.'
The next generation GST reforms would 'absolutely' set an economy open and transparent with further reduction in compliance burden and benefiting small businesses, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.
Sources in the know said the service tax paid by exporters on commissions paid to foreign agents was likely to be exempted. Foreign agents are responsible for getting orders from prospective clients based abroad. The move is likely to benefit all exporters, especially from textiles and pharmaceutical sectors. Exporters said the service tax on commission to foreign agents formed a major chunk of the tax paid by them.
Gross GST collections remained above the Rs 2 trillion mark for the second month in a row, rising 16.4 per cent in May to over Rs 2.01 lakh crore. Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection had touched a record high of Rs 2.37 lakh crore in April. In May, 2024, the mop up was Rs 1,72,739 crore.
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Friday reported a 9.6 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit for the September quarter, driven by strong performance in its consumer-facing retail and telecom businesses and a recovery in its core oil-to-chemicals segment.
Daily essentials and food products will be cheaper from Monday, as leading FMCG companies have slashed prices, extending GST cut benefits to consumers.
The Income Tax Department has clarified that the deadline for ITR filing for Assessment Year 2025-26 is September 15 and there is no further extension as circulated on social media. In a late night post on X on September 14, the department termed "fake" a statement in circulation on social media stating that the due date of filing ITRs has been further extended to September 30, 2025.
Deductions missed in Form 16 can still be claimed while filing ITR.
'If the near-term economic pain is absorbed more by those who have the ability and the financial strength to do so, then small and medium enterprises in downstream industries will emerge stronger from the trade imbroglio.'
The Supreme Court has directed the CBI to conduct a pan-India investigation into digital arrest scams and questioned the RBI about its lack of AI usage in detecting and freezing accounts used by cybercriminals.
Ten services including commercial training and coaching centres, Internet cafes, franchise services, forex brokers, auto servicing and ports will come under the 8.0 per cent service tax net from July.
Adani Energy Solutions on Monday posted a 28 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 557.10 crore for the September quarter, mainly due to one-time adjustment of deferred tax of Rs 314 crore in the year-ago period. Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL) had reported a net profit of Rs 773 crore in the July-September quarter of the last fiscal.
Here's what Indian investors diversifying into equities, ETFs, and real estate abroad to manage risk, returns, and currency exposure must watch out for.
These cases are being reopened under Section 147 of the Income Tax Act, which empowers the department to reassess income if it believes that taxable income has escaped assessment.
Last year, the government had considered raising the rate to 14 per cent but the move was shelved on account of fears of inflation, which was ruling at 6.5 per cent in January 2007. For the week ended December 29, the inflation rate stood at 3.5 per cent, raising the possibility that service tax rates will increase.
Your EPF isn't just a retirement pot. It's a financial safety net you can dip into for life's biggest needs. Here's how these one-time advances work and when to use them wisely.
From second homes and AC rail travel to private tutors, astrologers and marriage-makers come under the tax net
The government has no say in where the country's refiners source oil from because these are commercial transactions.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday asked the industry not to perennially demand a reduction in taxes as the government needs funds to implement welfare schemes for the poor. Addressing an event, the road transport and highways minister said the logistics cost in India will come down to 9 per cent within two years.
Foreign investors continue to show confidence in the country's equity market, infusing Rs 18,620 crore so far this month, driven by a combination of global tailwinds and improving domestic fundamentals. This positive momentum follows a net investment of Rs 4,223 crore in April, marking the first inflow in three months, data with the depositories showed.
...on par with oil, power, and defence, and to restrict its storage under foreign control.
The eighth Budget of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman continued to focus on 'GYAN' (Garib, Youth, Annadata, Nari) to maintain a consistent and coherent strategy initiated over the years in pursuing the government's vision for Viksit Bharat. The approach, characterised by incremental yet impactful steps, aims to create a compounding effect over time.
