Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said there are no changes in tax rates for direct and indirect taxes, including import duties. She also said the number of tax filers has swollen 2.4 times and the direct tax collection has trebled since 2014.
Full exemption for all health insurance premiums and reinsurance or a reduction in the GST rate from 18% to 5% on health insurance services is likely.
'We have created massive infrastructure in the past six years.'
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.
The wife of a deputy commissioner of GST in Ghaziabad, who allegedly committed suicide, has claimed that her husband was under "immense work pressure" and denied that he had stage four cancer. The incident took place on Monday when Sanjay Singh (59) jumped from the 15th floor of a building. Singh's wife, Aparna Singh, told reporters that he was a "victim of the system." His cousin, Dhananjay Singh, confirmed that Singh had been diagnosed with prostate cancer at an early stage and had been cured.
To those who ask, "Is all this really worth it? Why can't domestic demand fill the gap?", it is important to remind them that only 13 economies since the Second World War have grown at 7 per cent or more for 25 years -- like India needs to. They all had one thing in common: Strong export growth underpinned by strong global engagement, explains Sajjid Z Chinoy.
Leading FMCG maker HUL said that it has received a demand notice of Rs 962.75 crore from the Income Tax Department and will go in for an appeal against the order. The notice relates to non-deduction of TDS on payment of Rs 3,045 crore to GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH) for the acquisition of Intellectual Property Rights of the Health Foods Drinks (HFD) business consisting of brands as Horlicks, Boost, Maltova, and Viva, according to a recent exchange filing.
At 8,700 screens, India, the world's largest film producing country, has just six screens for every million of its people, compared to 125 in the US and 30 in China. With Sitaare Zameen Par, Aamir Khan hopes to expand the market for Indian cinema.
On his 200th birth anniversary, Utkarsh Mishra traces the life, thought, and legacy of Dadabhai Naoroji, the Grand Old Man of India.
Ask rediffGURU and PF, MF and insurance expert Purshotam Lal your mutual fund, insurance and personal finance-related questions.
'You've got to understand it is not easy to die by suicide.' 'People commit suicide only when they lose everything and find no other way to live.'
Ask rediffGURU and PF and MF expert Janak Patel your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
India and the UK on Thursday inked a landmark free trade agreement (FTA) that will cut tariffs on British whisky, cars and an array of items, besides boosting bilateral trade by around $34 billion annually.
The news that Amazon India has launched diagnostic services in select metro cities in partnership with the unlisted Orange Health Labs has led to a look at the competitive intensity in healthcare services. Listed companies in the space such as Dr Lal Path Labs, Metropolis Health, Thyrocare, Vijaya, and Krsnaa have all seen double-digit stock price corrections over the last 6-9 months.
India on Thursday signed a free trade agreement, officially dubbed as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), with the UK - its 16th trade pact so far - as the country aims to boost bilateral trade and investments.
The 31st meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, held in December 2018, deferred a decision to reduce the GST rate for cement from 28 per cent to 18 per cent. This was despite recognising that cement - along with automobile parts - remained among the few mass-consumption items still taxed at the highest slab, which was originally meant for luxury and sin goods.
In a development that may encourage increased investment in commercial real estate, the Supreme Court on Thursday gave the industry relief by permitting input tax credit (ITC) on construction expenses for buildings meant to be leased. "If the construction of a building was essential for carrying out the activity of supplying services, such as renting or giving on lease or other transactions in respect of the building or a part thereof, which are covered by clauses (2) and (5) of Schedule II of the CGST (Central Goods and Services Tax) Act, the building could be held to be a plant," said Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Sanjay Karol.
As chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on finance, former finance minister, Yashwant Sinha, says he is committed to expediting the legislative work associated with important Bills, including the direct taxes code (DTC) and Goods and Servies Tax.
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.
The revised guidelines are aimed at curbing discretionary practices by field officers, especially the tendency to seek documents not mandated under the law.
If India caves in to US pressure as Trump hopes it will, he will further try to blackmail it into submission, points out Ramesh Menon.
'From tariff tensions and border skirmishes to unrest in West Asia.' 'The worst may be behind us. But any further upmove will now have to come from earnings.'
'A large part of my effort will be solving issues for the whole of Sugar Land, all communities, all populations.'
'Within India, people want high-quality, personalised banking services, and the demand for such services has exploded.'
Despite recent underperformance, MNC funds have delivered over longer time frames.
"The new structure will substantially reduce taxes on the middle class and leave more money in their hands, boosting household consumption, savings and investment," Sitharaman said presenting what was dubbed as 'reformist' budget for the next fiscal in Lok Sabha.
About 1.2 trillion tax evasion cases have been detected and as many as 59,000 entities identified for verification in order to ascertain whether they are fake.
Ask rediffGURU and PF and MF expert Janak Patel your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Banks offer a wide range of group insurance plans -- personal accident, health, hospital cash, home insurance, credit protection, and critical illness.
Ask rediffGURU and PF and MF expert Janak Patel your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, Maruti, Tata Motors, ITC, Tata Steel and Reliance Industries were also among the gainers. Nestle, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Power Grid and Titan were among the laggards.
While recalling the order, the bench agreed to the contention of the law officer that there was a "breach of principle of natural justice" as the government department was not accorded the hearing.
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.
The Trump trade shock is a chance to push long-overdue reforms, rather than tinker with tariffs to appease the US, suggests M Govinda Rao.
Any industrial policy is only as good as how it is applied and the other reforms that support it. This was as true 40 years ago as it is now, points out Debashis Basu.
Digipin promises to revolutionise location-based services in India with safeguards.
Finding solutions to address non-tariff barriers would be important for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union (EU) and both sides are actively working on resolving these issues, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday. He said the two sides are "pretty" close to finalising the talks for the proposed free trade pact.
Term life insurance policies, and senior citizens' health insurance premium are likely to be exempted from GST as most members of a state ministerial panel favoured cutting taxes to benefit the common man, an official said on Saturday. The GoM to decide on GST on health and life insurance premiums in its meeting on Saturday decided to exempt GST on premiums paid by individuals, other than senior citizens, for health insurance with coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh. However, 18 per cent GST will continue to be levied for health insurance cover of over Rs 5 lakh.
Every bank offers a different slab of minimum balance to customers, based on which 'free services' are provided
The GST Council on Saturday postponed a decision on cutting tax rate on life and health insurance premiums, officials said. The 55th meeting of the GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state counterparts, decided that some more technicalities needed to be ironed out and tasked the GoM for further deliberations.
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