The consolidated net profit of Marico, the maker of Parachute coconut oil, declined 0.7 per cent in the second quarter (July-September) of 2025-26 (Q2FY26).
These losses increase insurance premiums for customers and reduce insurer margins on the other.
India's manufacturing sector activity eased to a nine-month low in November, mainly owing to softer rise in sales and production amid reports of challenging market conditions, a monthly report said on Monday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) falling to 56.6 in November from 59.2 in October, highlighted the slowest improvement in operating conditions since February.
Telephone use, eat-outs and other activities will cost more.
The Confederation of All India Traders on Monday demanded the withdrawal of service tax on traders and threatened to go on a nationwide agitation if the demand was not met.
Recent years have been turbulent for the insurance industry due to direct and indirect tax reforms, regulatory overhaul and other external pressures. The events cumulatively slowed growth rate to single digits from the high teens seen earlier.
The change in the government's engagement with the economy's need for reforms is more nuanced than how analysts have so far perceived it, points out A K Bhattacharya.
India was being evaluated for a potential weight of around 1 per cent in the index, an allocation that could have translated into $25 billion of inflows, spread over roughly 10 months.
ICICI Bank on Wednesday said tax authorities have slapped a demand notice of Rs 49.11 crore on it for alleged short payment of GST.
In October, small car wholesales of the auto industry -- excluding Tata Motors -- went up by 8.4 per cent Y-o-Y to 116,601 units, the data showed. However, the utility vehicle (UV) segment which includes sports utility vehicles (SUVs) as well as multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs), saw a bigger growth in October.
The government has rationalised the service tax liability on sellers and distributors of lottery tickets by giving them the option to pay tax at flat rate based on the face value of tickets.
As the rupee has been on a downward slide and crossed 90 a dollar, consumer electronics firms are looking to raise prices of products ranging from air conditioners (ACs) to television panels up to 10 per cent.
TDS has been successfully used for direct taxes like the income tax.
Coforge's planned $2.35 billion all-stock acquisition of US-based Encora has divided the Street, with a few brokerages terming it a "strategically positive" but execution-heavy bet while others raising valuation concerns.
In a representation to the ministry of finance, it has demanded that labour-intensive security agencies should no longer be enlisted under the category of service providers and brought under the category of auxiliary service providers so that they could avail of tax benefits.
The finance ministry is instead thinking of expanding the list of services on which the tax would be levied under the reverse charge mechanism.
Both the life and non-life insurance segment posted over 20 per cent premium growth in November for the first time in this financial year (FY26), supported by the reduction in goods and services tax (GST) on premiums from 18 per cent to zero and a favourable base effect.
The reduction in goods & services tax (GST) on individual life and health insurance premiums has been called a "landmark step" for making insurance affordable and inclusive. In a panel discussion at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025, Anup Bagchi, managing director (MD) & chief executive officer (CEO) of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance; Mahesh Balasubramanian, MD & CEO of Kotak Life Insurance; Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO of Bajaj Life Insurance; and Ratnakar Patnaik, MD of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), listed what else the industry needs to reach more people.
E-filing through the Centre's online tax payment application Automation of Central Excise and Service Tax will be a must not only for returns due after October 1, but also for returns of past periods which have not been filed yet or are to be revised.
Companies are squeezing more profits from their operations relative to the capital they put to work, the highest now since 2011. Profit after tax relative to capital employed came in at 10.47 per cent in September, shows data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), higher than the 8.41 per cent seen in September last year. This is the highest since March 2010.
'This is not a case of tax evasion but the result of long-standing ambiguities in GST rules and unawareness.'
After a subdued first quarter of 2025-26 (Q1FY26), banks are now betting big on the festive season, rolling out attractive loan offers to boost credit growth in the second half of the current financial year (H2FY26) - a trend likely to be further accentuated by the second-order effects of the good services tax (GST) cuts.
Those paying more than Rs 25 lakh in service tax will soon have to file their returns every month instead of once in six months.
The reduction in the goods and services tax (GST) rates has increased the momentum in India's economic activity both on the supply and demand sides, while robust agricultural activity - reflected in the strong onset of rabi sowing and adequate reservoir levels - has reinforced the outlook for food supply and rural incomes, the finance ministry said on Thursday.
If states are to levy service tax, a combined GST will become a nightmare since a host of tax departments in each state will also have to be dealt with.
The global airlines body International Air Transport Association also said that such taxes would compromise the industry's ability to maintain margins. Ravi said he would also appeal to all state governments to reduce sales tax on aviation turbine fuel.
Nearly 96 per cent of new applicants will benefit from this simplified approval route.
Even as non-life insurers reported muted premium growth in October, standalone health insurers saw a robust 38 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) surge. This growth was driven by pent-up demand in the retail health insurance segment.
While GST on ICE vehicles was brought down significantly, for electric cars it remained at 5 per cent.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has termed the service tax charged on air tickets by the Indian government as illegal according to the Chicago Convention.
Urban development minister Jaipal Reddy said on Friday that he would also ask the finance minister to review his decision to bring the real estate sector under the service tax net. Real estate players were unanimous that the extra burden would be passed to the consumer if, indeed, the service tax is imposed.
Customs duty cannot be levied on electricity supplied from a special economic zone (SEZ) to the domestic market, ruled the Supreme Court on Monday while upholding Adani Power's appeal against a 2019 judgment of the Gujarat high court. The 2019 judgment had denied relief to Adani Power from Customs duty on electricity supplied from its Mundra SEZ unit to the domestic tariff area (DTA).
India's manufacturing sector activity eased in September, as new orders, output and input buying rose at the slowest rates in four months, while job creation retreated to one-year low, a monthly survey said on Wednesday.
The Central Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal ordered the BCCI pay Rs three crore interim payment towards service tax dues.
The contrast with the old Income-Tax Act is stark. The 1961 law ran into 512,000 words; the 2025 one pares that down to 259,000. Chapters have been cut from 47 to 23, while sections have reduced from 819 to 536. One of the clearest changes is terminological. The confusing twin concepts of 'assessment year' and 'previous year' have been scrapped.
As per norms, the returns have to be filed online on www.aces.gov.in.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday sought to allay fears expressed by traders, who have threatened to go on nationwide strike opposing the service tax, saying the tax is imposed on goods transport agencies.
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