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.
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 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.
As the service tax department is probing the evasion of service tax on bulk discounts offered by the print media to advertising agencies
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
'The trade deficit in some sectors is huge and that is an area of opportunity to localise.'
Filing a belated return is far better than not filing at all.
India has set a target of $160 billion for merchandise exports during 2007-08.
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.
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.
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.
rediffGURU T S Khurana answers readers' personal income tax queries
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.
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.
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.
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.
They are not just underreporting income; they are reshaping what the income tax system perceives, says study.
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.
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.
'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.'
'Except for extremely conservative investors, others can consider allocating 10 to 20 per cent of their portfolio to small caps.'
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.
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.
Capex, infrastructure development, and prudent fiscal management are the key focus areas in the Budget, says Nilesh Shah.
India has managed high government debt-to-GDP, a slowing domestic revenue engine, lower household savings and a more hostile geopolitical environment separately in the past. But together, they threaten to undo the growth narrative on which today's optimism rests, warns 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.
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.
Wholesale price inflation (WPI) fell to (-) 1 .21 per cent in October, driven by a decline in prices of food articles like pulses and vegetables, as well as lower fuel and manufactured items' prices, government data showed on Friday.
Real GDP growth surprised on the upside in 2025, but weaker nominal growth, trade uncertainty, and soft demand signal a bumpier road ahead.
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.
'Sebi's move to cap brokerage charges will help investors by lowering the overall cost of investments.'
