The income tax department on Wednesday conducted raids in multiple states as part of a pan-India tax evasion probe against certain registered unrecognised political parties (RUPP) and their alleged dubious financial transactions, official sources said.
'The most fundamental flaw with the electoral bond scheme is that it is designed to make anonymous donations.' 'It makes it easy for black money holders as well as corrupt corporates to donate money to the ruling party and ask for a quid pro quo without anybody getting any idea about it.'
Clarifying on reports that it cannot scrutinise tax returns of political parties, CBDT said: "There are enough provisions in the Income Tax Act to scrutinise the accounts of the political parties and these political parties are also subject to other provisions of income tax including filing of return."
The disbursal included Rs 1,000 crore for migrant welfare and over Rs 1,392 crore for procurement of Covid vaccine doses.
The PFI is alleged to have been continuously involved in anti-government propaganda and spreading the narrative that Muslims were being persecuted in India.
The first bench of the Madras high court on Wednesday set aside an order of the Tamil Nadu HR&CE department, which appointed a 'fit' person (thakkar) to administer the Ayodhya Mandapam run by Sri Ram Samaj in West Mambalam in Chennai.
George Soros, who is in the eye of the storm over his remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Adani issue, is an Hungarian-born American financier, philanthropist, and activist whose success as an investor made him one of the wealthiest men in the world. He is also known as a powerful and influential supporter of liberal social causes. In a speech at the Munich Security Conference on Thursday, the billionaire philanthropist said he believes the turmoil at Gautam Adani's business empire may weaken Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hold on the government, a statement which was strongly contested by the BJP as an attack on Indian democracy.
If time is what you have to offer, Dignity offers several options.
Mihir Tanna, Associate Director, S K Patodia & Associates, answers your income tax queries.
A day after fact-checking website Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair was arrested by the Delhi Police, officials said on Tuesday that his 'objectionable tweet of 2018 led to a Twitter storm with hate speeches, detrimental to communal harmony'.
From 100% tax deductions for contributions to PM-CARES fund to extending the due date for linking Aadhar and PAN card, the government has provided various tax relief and extensions in deadlines for statutory compliances, says Homi Mistry.
Only the future will tell if Modi can leave his mark on the Ukraine crisis. Nonetheless, it is both a challenge and an opportunity for India's diplomacy, notes Rup Narayan Das.
Abramovich had sanctions imposed on him by the British government after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
The department apparently suspects the use of shell firms or front entities in some aspects of such remittance. Money might, it suspects, have moved in some cases from tax-free jurisdictions or tax havens to accounts in the UAE and some South Asian countries.
Paul is among the wealthy who hold legal accounts in Swiss HSBC Bank.
In one of the worst school shootings in American history, an 18-year-old gunman has killed 21 people, including 19 children, and two adults at an elementary school in Texas state, with an emotional President Joe Biden urging lawmakers to 'turn this pain into action' to control the powerful gun lobby.
The school was run on strict Gandhian lines, with stress on students doing things themselves. Physical comforts were minimal, in keeping with the relatively backward geographical area. But it had a staff of teachers dedicated to educating their students, not just imparting them book-learning, remembers Shreekant Sambrani.
Family philanthropy has proven resilient throughout the pandemic and grew to nearly Rs 12,000 crore in fiscal year 2020, accounting for almost two-thirds of the rise in private sector funding since FY19, says a report. According to the India Philanthropy Report 2021, co-created by Bain and Company and Dasra, funding from family philanthropy has tripled its corpus, growing to nearly Rs 12,000 crore in FY 2020. As per the report, in FY 2020, private-sector funding which stems from four sources including foreign, corporate, retail, and high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) or families totalled about Rs 64,000 crore and 20 per cent of this came from family philanthropy. While foreign contributions account for a quarter of all funding, domestic corporation donations also known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) account for 28 per cent and retail investors account for another 28 per cent.
The PM CARES Fund is not a Government of India fund and the amount collected by it does not go to the Consolidated Fund of India, the Delhi High Court has been informed.
The total income of seven political parties from unknown sources was Rs 2,512.98 crore in 2018-19.
'The anonymous electoral bonds means that political affiliations will be even harder to ascertain for the voter or the minority shareholder.' 'The government of the day will, of course, know, exactly which corporate is making donations to which party.' 'Hence, the government will be in a wonderful position to exert "moral pressure" on corporates which make donations to Opposition parties.'
'On the one hand, they are targeting NGOs that are doing development work, accusing them of accepting foreign funds by bypassing rules, and on the other they are allowing political parties to take foreign funds.'
There is no constitutional or statutory prohibition on receipt of anonymous donations by political parties.
The mother of Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola has died after being diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, the English Premier League champions said on Monday. Guardiola, who has also coached Barcelona and Bayern Munich and spent most of his playing career with Barca, donated one million euros ($1.08 million) last month to fight against the virus.
They were participating in a debate on the bill for giving effect to various compliance relief measures for taxpayers, including extending time limits for filing returns, in the wake of the coronavirus crisis and tax benefits for donations to PM CARES Fund.
Cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir on Thursday said he will contribute his two years' salary as an MP to the Prime Minister-CARES fund to tackle the coronavirus pandemic sweeping through the country. The BJP's Lok Sabha member from East Delhi made the announcement on his Twitter page, urging people to come forward and donate generously.
From being rejected at the audition to walking the ramp at LFW, one of the biggest fashion weeks in the country, Chhattisgarh beauty Renee Kujur shares her inspiring journey to the top.
'The people who stay with us were not born orphans; they have been abandoned.'
The Congress alleged that whenever an issue of national security comes up, the "prime minister hides behind his ministers".
Those spending over Rs 2 lakh on foreign travel, incurring more than Rs 1 lakh electricity bills, or depositing over Rs 1 crore in current account will have to mandatorily file ITR even if their total income is below the taxable limit. The last date for filing has been extended to Nov 30 from Jul 31.
West Ham United's Michail Antonio has come to the defence of teammate Kurt Zouma, who has been targeted by fans for abusing his cats.
It's been 51 days since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took his 'mitron' by surprise when he announced that Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 would no longer be legal tender. What will the PM tell us on 31/12?
The report, floated recently, comes a few days after the government cancelled the registration of Bengaluru-based NGO Infosys Foundation for alleged violation of norms in receiving foreign grants.
The EC has asked all departments to deploy round-the-clock flying squads, quick-response teams, and high-tech machinery to check money inflow. They are also to examine vehicles passing though check-posts, reports Shrimi Choudhary.
The Income Tax Department detected bogus expenditure claims and alleged transfer of share capitals worth crores of rupees through shell companies after it recently raided some entities in Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, including people linked to the Samajwadi Party.
The Centre has imposed a ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI) and several of its associates for their alleged terror activities.
The government said that the massive amount of political donations were earlier made in cash by individuals or corporates using 'illicit means of funding'.
'The BJP gets most of its contributions in cash.' 'Now they may show that donations are made in small amounts, less that Rs 20,000, but everyone knows this is just absurd.'
A court in Mumbai on Monday rejected the anticipatory bail application of Maharashtra BJP leader Kirit Somaiya in a case pertaining to alleged misappropriation of over Rs 57 crore funds collected to save aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
The Association for Democratic Reforms slams the Budget proposals on political funding, says they lack teeth and show the "lack of political will" in proposing real reforms.
