The proposals outlined in Budget 2026-27 represent a carefully crafted, multi-year strategy designed to strengthen India's big bets on the path to Viksit Bharat 2047, says Sameer Gupta.
'Among corporates, about 60% of income is now reported under the new tax regime.'
rediffGURUS Mihir Tanna, Vipul Bhavsar, T S Khurana, Vivek Lala and Anil Rego will answer your tax queries related to the Union Budget 2026-2o27.
Ask rediffGURU and tax expert Mihir Tanna your income tax-related questions.
This Budget positions India's taxation ideology as not merely a revenue source but as a strategic catalyst for growth, inclusion and long-term confidence.
'Tax cases are technical in nature... Many high courts do not have a tax bench, which also contributes to the delay.'
Building on last year's clearance of 172K cases, I-T department is pushing for faster appeal disposals, penalty reforms and system-driven processes to curb litigation and boost tax certainty.
Net direct tax collection grew 8 per cent to over Rs 17.04 lakh crore this fiscal till December 17 on slower refunds and higher advance taxes from corporates, the income tax department data showed on Friday.
The 2026-27 Budget, seeking to harmonise the government's imperative to grant certainty while ensuring a rational tax policy, had several notable announcements to usher in halcyon days, says Mukesh Butani.
'Global uncertainty is something which definitely occupies the minds of officials when we are preparing for the Budget.'
The Budget offers a limited-time regularisation window with clear thresholds, defined payments, and immunity from penalty or prosecution.
Ahead of the Union Budget 2026-27, Indian business houses have urged the government to make demergers tax-neutral, particularly in cases involving transfer of investments in associate companies with 25 per cent or more shareholding, under the new Income Tax Act. This may possibly help some companies planning to go public, according to a source.
Neal Katyal, an accomplished Indian-American lawyer, triumphed in a landmark Supreme Court case against Donald Trump's tariffs, championing the Constitution and the rights of American small businesses.
The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the Income Tax Department to disclose 'generic details of the net taxable income/gross income' of an estranged husband to his wife for pursuing maintenance proceedings. The commission stated that such information cannot be denied on privacy grounds in matrimonial disputes.
The Committee will 'examine the assessment orders, appellate orders and scrutiny report for the appeal to the ITAT related to orders. . . and give its recommendations for different income groups, separately for corporate and non- corporate assesses", CBDT said.
'Repeated adjournments are one of the largest contributors to lengthy litigation cycles.'
Taxpayers should consider ITR-U if they omitted income, wrongly claimed deductions or exemptions, or made reporting errors that led to a shortfall in tax payment.
The government is exploring legal options, including bringing an Ordinance, to tackle the problem of income-tax litigation on reassessment notices under old, time-barred norms, according to official sources. This has come in the wake of writ petitions filed by companies and individuals in recent weeks to challenge the validity of the notices issued by the tax department between April 1 and June 30 and under the old norms.
The Delhi High Court has directed the GST Council to consider lowering or abolishing the goods and services tax on air purifiers, citing worsening air quality in the national capital. The court has asked the council to meet at the earliest, even via video conference if necessary, to address the issue.
Total pending Customs arrears, including amounts under litigation, court stays and cases where the appeal period has not expired, stood at about Rs 1.36 trillion at the end of December 2024.
India is a global leader in software development services, IT enabled services, knowledge process outsourcing services and contract R&D services relating to software development, Sitharaman said noting these business segments are quite inter-connected with each other.
India is growing fast, but to keep growing strong, the government must make more things at home, create jobs, and spend money wisely, suggests Rajiv Memani, regional managing partner, Africa-India Region, EY.
With the Union Budget three months away, major industry chambers have submitted to the government proposals on common taxes, seeking simpler compliance and a quicker resolution of tax disputes.
The Centre is considering amendments to the Recovery of Debt and Bankruptcy Act in the Budget to allow some Debt Recovery Tribunals to focus only on high-value cases.
ICICI Bank on Thursday said tax authorities have slapped a demand notice of Rs 238 crore on it for alleged short payment of GST.
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) has sought urgent steps to clear the huge backlog of income-tax appeals, simplify tax deducted at source (TDS) compliance, and ensure tax neutrality for fast-track demergers, during its consultation with Revenue Secretary Arvind Shrivastava ahead of the Union Budget 2026-27.
The Indian Rice Exporter's Federation (IREF) on Tuesday urged the government to provide tax incentives, interest subvention and freight support in the upcoming 2026 Budget to strengthen the sector's competitiveness while addressing sustainability concerns.
The GST Council at its next meeting may consider a reduction in taxes on air and water purifiers as air quality across the country worsens and access to safe drinking water remains uneven.
The new limits for filing appeals by the Income Tax department before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), high courts and the Supreme Court have been revised to Rs 3 lakh, Rs 10 lakh and Rs 25 lakh, respectively, from Rs 2 lakh, Rs 4 lakh and Rs 10 lakh.
Ask rediffGURU and tax expert Mihir Tanna your income tax-related questions.
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.
Dabur's business update for Q3FY26 indicated mid-single digit consolidated revenue growth. The guidance is that growth in operating and net profits will beat revenue growth. In the domestic business, home and personal care (HPC) revenue grew in double digits, while healthcare is likely to post a sequential growth in low-single digits.
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).
The Delhi High Court has asked the central government why it cannot reduce the GST on air purifiers, considering the poor air quality in Delhi. The court's concern is that the current 18% GST makes air purifiers unaffordable for the common man.
'If a common man wants to buy an air purifier for Rs 10,000, then he will have to shell out Rs 11,800 with 18 percent GST.' 'If he is charged GST at 5 percent the same air purifier will cost Rs 10,500.' 'This saves a one time amount of Rs 1,300 -- and that too just to breathe clean air.'
To digitise Customs processes, the Union finance ministry is planning to integrate the Indian Customs Electronic Gateway (ICEGATE), Risk Management System (RMS), and Indian Customs Electronic Data Interchange System (ICES) into a single unified national Customs platform, according to government sources.
'If a charitable or religious trust sells a capital asset -- such as land, buildings, shares -- and makes a capital gain, it can avoid paying tax on that gain if it reinvests the proceeds in another capital asset for its charitable purposes.'
In October 2024, Jindal Stainless challenged a Goods and Services Tax (GST) notice in the Delhi high court. It was about corporate guarantees issued to related parties by its former group company, Jindal Stainless (Hisar), before their merger in March 2023.
'The government, if it deems fit, will incorporate the changes in the Bill, take approval from the Cabinet before moving the bill for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha.'
Concerned over huge revenues in form of customs, services and excise duties locked up in litigations, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has constituted a committee to suggest steps to bring down such cases.
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