India's net direct tax collections have surged by 16.4 per cent year-on-year to 6.51 trillion as of July 13, primarily driven by robust growth in corporate tax receipts, according to provisional data from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
Maruti Suzuki India's CFO, Arnab Roy, has urged the central government to introduce an amnesty scheme or an 'as-is' settlement option to resolve past indirect tax disputes, aiming to clear legacy litigation and foster growth in the automotive industry. Roy emphasised the need for a 'smarter way to address the past' to provide long-term certainty for businesses.
Taxpayers must provide more details to support deduction and exemption claims.
India's gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections surged by 15.4 per cent to over Rs 2.11 lakh crore in July, driven by increased mop-up from both domestic transactions and imports.
India's net direct tax collection has seen a robust 15 per cent increase, reaching approximately 5.21 trillion in the first two and a half months of FY27, as on June 17, driven by strong growth in both corporate and non-corporate tax segments.
As India marks a decade of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the focus is shifting towards enhancing efficiency through artificial intelligence, data sharing, and process simplification. The reform, which unified India's indirect tax system, has significantly broadened the tax base and boosted revenues, with future plans including a streamlined two-tier rate structure and continued technological integration to reduce compliance costs and combat evasion.
'AIS helps taxpayers check whether all income streams and reportable transactions -- such as interest from old bank accounts, small dividend receipts or transactions across multiple brokers -- have been properly disclosed.' 'Mismatches between these transactions and declared income may trigger automated notices or scrutiny.'
India's Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections saw a significant 14 per cent increase in June, reaching approximately Rs 1.95 lakh crore. This surge was primarily driven by a substantial 34.6 per cent growth in tax mop-up from imports, alongside a 6.5 per cent rise in domestic supplies, reflecting the country's economic resilience despite global uncertainties.
India's net direct tax collections increased by 5.12 per cent to over Rs 23.40 lakh crore in the 2025-26 fiscal year, but this figure still fell short of the revised budget target of Rs 24.21 lakh crore, primarily due to income tax cuts implemented earlier in the year.
The data may include details of foreign bank accounts, investment accounts, certain financial investments, interest income, dividends and other specified financial income held by Indian tax residents abroad.
Tax treatment depends on the activity and manner of earning income.
Central tax authorities detected input tax credit (ITC) fraud worth Rs 74,781.56 crore across 30,162 cases in FY26, more than doubling the number of cases from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Finance.
From the financial year 2025-2026, the government has introduced a new column in the tax return form for presumptive taxpayers, requiring them to disclose their year-end investments. This requirement was not present last year.
Education loan defaults carry serious consequences. Credit bureaus record missed payments against both the student and the co-borrower, usually a parent.
The Maharashtra government has approved the deployment of sovereign artificial intelligence solutions from Sarvam AI for its departments, with a two-year outlay of Rs 11.26 crore. This initiative includes the Indus AI workspace for 2,500 users, ensuring government data remains within India, along with citizen outreach agents and speech models for the MahaAI platform.
Food and grocery delivery giant Swiggy has reported a significant narrowing of its net loss in the first quarter, down 34 per cent year-on-year to approximately 791 crore, while revenue from operations surged by 37 per cent to 6,812 crore. The company also achieved contribution margin break-even in its quick commerce segment, Instamart.
GSTN has put on hold its planned enhancements to the e-way bill system, providing businesses with crucial time to adapt to the proposed changes amid widespread industry concerns.
A growing conflict between India's insolvency law and tax rules is creating fresh uncertainty for companies undergoing resolution, with tax authorities increasingly denying the benefit of carrying forward past losses even after resolution plans have been approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
Indian companies are increasingly turning to share buybacks as a preferred payout strategy, driven by recent tax framework changes that make them more tax-efficient for non-promoter shareholders and a fall in stock prices.
The Indian government has approved two major manufacturing initiatives worth nearly Rs 1.9 lakh crore (USD 22 billion) to expand the country's semiconductor ecosystem and scale up mobile phone production, aiming to strengthen its position as a global electronics manufacturing hub.
'Healthy double-digit returns are still possible, though a sharp rally is unlikely.'
Infosys, India's second-largest IT services firm, has appointed company veteran Ashiss Kumar Dash as CEO designate, with the leadership transition scheduled for April 1, 2027, after current CEO Salil Parekh completes his second term.
The United States has implemented a 10 per cent tariff on goods imported from India and 16 other countries, citing efforts to combat forced labour in production.
As many as 274 fugitives have been repatriated from 36 countries in the last 7 years, an average of around 40 per year and a 10-fold jump from the 2004-13 period when around four fugitives were brought back every year, the government said on Tuesday.
Recent changes to tax exemptions and allowances, including increased education, hostel, and HRA limits, have made the old tax regime more competitive against the new regime, prompting salaried employees to re-evaluate their choice for the current financial year.
'Making a film -- good or bad -- is extremely hard work, involving hundreds of people and at least two years from idea to release. When the audience rejects it, it is known to push makers into depression. And then there is the danger of theatres stopping the screenings after week one if footfalls don't improve.'
The EPF should remain a retirement nest egg, not be turned into an emergency fund.
Salaried taxpayers should not use these forms blindly to file their income-tax returns.
Taxpayers should reconcile returns with AIS, Form 26AS and maintain all supporting records.
India's passenger vehicle industry is poised for a record-breaking year in 2026, propelled by robust dispatches in the first half of the calendar year and strong demand for utility vehicles, despite facing several economic challenges.
With more granular reporting and enhanced data matching, mismatches are likely to be identified more quickly.
Taxability in property transactions depends on the actual source of funds and beneficial ownership, not on whose name appears in the purchase agreement.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories reported a 68.7 per cent year-on-year decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 443.5 crore in Q1 FY27, primarily due to the end of its lenalidomide sales agreement, a Rs 240-crore provision for semaglutide API inventory quality issues, and elevated freight costs.
DBS Bank India has launched a direct tax payment facility after authorisation from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). Utkarsh Small Finance Bank partners with Mumbai Indians as banking partner for T20 League 2026.
HDFC Life Insurance and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance have reported double-digit growth in profitability for the first quarter of FY27, buoyed by healthy premium collections and increased investment income, with HDFC Life's net profit rising 11.9% and ICICI Pru's by 27.8%.
A key mistake would be continuing to rely on provisions of the Income-Tax Act, 1961, where the new law now applies, and vice versa.
Investors should do thorough due diligence when selecting a platform.
The Delhi government has approved the Delhi EV Policy 2.0, which will phase out fresh registrations of internal combustion engine (ICE) two-wheelers and three-wheelers over the next two years, starting with a ban on ICE 3Ws and N1 category LCVs from January 1, 2027, and ICE 2Ws from April 1, 2028.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has revised down India's GDP growth forecast for fiscal year 2026-27 (FY27) to 6.6 per cent from an earlier 6.9 per cent, primarily attributing the change to elevated energy prices stemming from the Middle East conflict. Despite this moderation, India is still expected to remain the world's fastest-growing major economy.
Despite the Centre's GST 2.0 guidelines aiming to facilitate provisional refunds within seven days for low-risk cases, many large taxpayers are still encountering significant delays in obtaining Goods and Services Tax (GST) refunds under the inverted duty structure (IDS), with experts citing inconsistent state-level scrutiny and subjective interpretations.
