rediffGURU and financial planning expert Colonel Sanjeev Govila (retd) answers your personal finance-related questions.
The United Progressive Alliance government's confidence about getting legislative business done in the monsoon session of Parliament, beginning August 5, might be misplaced.
After days of adjournments, the Rajya Sabha unanimously passed the crucial Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill along with two bills on supplementary demands for 2015-16, within minutes without any debate.
Social Justice Minister Thaavarchand Gehlot sought to allay doubts raised by several opposition members about the legislation's fate if challenged in the Supreme Court, saying he can say with confidence that the apex court will accept it.
He said the new short-term treasury bills will be part of the government's same borrowing programme. To meet its burgeoning expenditure, necessitated by the slowing down economy, the government has pegged its market borrowing at over Rs 4.5 lakh crore (Rs 4.5 trillion) for the current fiscal, bulk of which is being raised in the first half.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday asked Left parties to reconsider their opposition to the pension bill so that government can provide a "legal basis" to the new pension system started last year.
The implementation of the commodities transaction tax is likely to be delayed to the end of the year or even next year, thanks to the spiralling inflation and its political fallout.
Parliament on Tuesday approved the long-awaited fiscal responsibility legislation after Finance Minister Jaswant Singh promised there would be no lowering of developmental expenditure.
K N Balagopal (Communist Party of India -Marxist) said the Congress and the BJP were acting as A-Team and B-Team and not allowing the House to discuss the bills.
Parliament was virtually powerless for a brief while on Monday.
The government on Tuesday announced changes in excise duty from specific to value based for cement priced above Rs 250 per bag of 50 kg, a move manufacturers say would increase the production cost.The industry, however, was non-committal on whether it would pass on the increased burden to consumers.
One has to mention the acknowledgement number and the date of filing of four quarterly returns.
The number of high-end taxpayers declaring income of more than Rs 10 lakh per annum have doubled to 1.77 lakh during the assessment year 2006-07, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said. Intervening in the debate on the Finance Bill 2008 in the Lok Sabha, he said there were about 97,000 taxpayers with an income of Rs 10 lakh per annum when the UPA government assumed office in 2004.
The last date for bidding is being pushed back from April 25 to May 9 to allow Finance Minister P Chidambaram to clear the air on the seven-year income tax holiday for oil and gas production, when he replies to Finance Bill in Parliament in next couple of week, officials said. "There is no formal decision yet, but this is the line of thinking and an announcement is likely soon," an official said.
Supporting the striking truck operators, the National Democratic Alliance on Wednesday asked the government to withdraw the proposed service tax on transport booking agents.
Government on Tuesday indicated its willingness to incorporate more changes into the land bill in order to address the concerns raised by opposition parties even as it has already agreed to make at least six amendments in its proposal.
The finance minister said the early signs of improvement in the Indian economy are seen despite no big recovery visible in the global economy.
The broader NSE Nifty sank 177.65 points or 1.53 per cent to 11,419.25.
Retrospective claims may not stand the test in international courts.
Banks have started charging customers for payment of credit card bills through cheque and so paying online makes more sense.
Many online retail websites follow 'aggregator' model.
Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday said that tax exemptions will be pruned further and phased out eventually and that the controversial Banking Cash Transaction Tax will be reviewed next year.
The government in December obtained Parliament approval for raising the oil subsidy bill by Rs 28,500 crore (Rs 285 billion) over and above the amount earmarked in the Budget for 2012-13.
"Everybody knows in this country that I charge only the rich, but for poor people I do work free and the poor people are about 90 per cent of my clientele," he said.
Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has called off the meeting with empowered committee on value-added tax, scheduled for Tuesday.
The fiscal deficit, estimated at 4.6 per cent of the gross domestic product, is expected to be around 5.6 per cent, mainly on account of factors like subdued revenue collection, poor disinvestment receipts, high global commodity prices and increasing subsidy bill.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday exempted scented supari from excise duty if it does not exceed 50 paise a packet.
Noting that the assembly election results being very disappointing is an understatement, the Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson urged party MPs to channel their disappointment into positivity for next year's general elections.
The contribution from asset management companies (AMCs) has surpassed the Rs 3,000 crore target for the creation of a Rs 33,000 crore backstop facility for debt mutual funds (MFs). The initial corpus for the Corporate Debt Market Development Fund (CDMDF) is nearly Rs 3,100 crore, according to multiple government officials and AMC executives. "The fund is operational now. "The required corpus has been raised by AMCs and the remaining part (Rs 30,000 crore) is in the form of a guarantee from the government which will be activated only in case of a credit event," explained D P Singh, joint CEO and deputy MD, SBI MF.
A bill to auction coal mines is also likely to be passed later.
If she cannot recast the party, bring together the factions opposed to her, and present herself as her brother's true challenger, there will be little left for her in politics, notes Aditi Phadnis.
With the Aam Aadmi Party's deadline of passing Jan Lokpal Bill nearing, the Delhi government on Tuesday said its draft was being finalised and it would be cleared in a cabinet meeting on Friday.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said that the United Progressive Alliance government was ready to bring in and get the Lokpal Bill passed in the next session of Parliament if the Opposition cooperated with it.
Whatever may be their flaws and the adverse impact on industry or the Centre's finances, the food security and land acquisition Bills are likely to be seen by voters as people-friendly initiatives
The government plans to borrow a record Rs 15.4 lakh crore from dated securities in FY24 to meet its expenditure requirement to prop up the economy.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday expressed firm commitment to enact the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) Bill at the earliest, after expeditious examination of the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee.
Thirty-five Union ministers on Friday huddled in a strategy meeting for an image make-over for the government on a day when Congress began its foot march against the land bill from the symbolical Bhatta Parsaul village.
Chidambaram eases duty on Cement, export of iron ore.
