Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget speech on Wednesday was marked by the usual thumping of benches by the ruling alliance members, but the loudest cheer was reserved for her announcement of income tax relief, which was welcomed by 'Modi, Modi' chants in Lok Sabha that also witnessed a few instances of protest by the Opposition.
Opposition leaders slammed the Centre on Wednesday for its 'limited' focus on important sectors like health and education in the Budget for 2023-24 fiscal.
According to state officials, the project envisages lifting of 17.40 thousand million cubic feet of water from river Thunga to Bhadra reservoir and 29.90 TMC from Bhadra reservoir.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday again took a digital tablet wrapped in a traditional 'bahi-khata' style pouch as she headed for Parliament to present Union Budget 2023-24 in a paperless format just like the previous two years. She posed for the traditional 'briefcase' picture outside her office along with her team of officials before heading to meet the President. She, however, was holding a tablet instead of a briefcase to present the Budget in a digital format.
Mumbai police is likely to take assistance of the Income Tax department and the Enforcement Directorate for probe into the disproportionate assets case involving senior Congress leader Kripashankar Singh, his family members and aides.
The CBDT has now laid down parameters specifying the manner in which any communication issued by any income-tax authority relating to assessment, appeals, orders, statutory or otherwise, exemptions, enquiry, investigation, verification of information, penalty, prosecution, rectification and approval to the assessee will be dealt with.
The high value transactions that will be under the I-T Department scanner include the purchase of property, vehicles, shares and bonds, fixed deposits in banks and post offices, etc.
Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended on a mixed note on Wednesday as the euphoria about the Budget fizzled out, with investors going for profit-taking ahead of the Fed interest rate decision. The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex climbed 158.18 points or 0.27 per cent to settle at 59,708.08 after it trimmed most of the intra-day gains. During the day, it had zoomed 1,223.54 points or 2 per cent to 60,773.44.
The searches are also being conducted at the premises of the son of RJD MP P C Gupta and few other businessmen.
Sources said Peerzada has been asked to come with all his financial documents to the taxman after the department took cognisance of recent media reports about his wealth being about Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion).
In the search, Rs 60 crore were found in 20 accounts of as many shell companies, an official said, adding the I-T team was scanning the records to trace the directors of these companies.
The middle class is a big force to fulfil dreams of a prosperous and developed India and our government has taken many decisions to empower it, the prime minister said.
The defence budget was increased to Rs 5.94 lakh crore for 2023-24, up from last year's allocation of Rs 5.25 lakh crore.
The Union Budget on Wednesday outlined several initiatives to drive India's technology agenda and boost digital infrastructure, including new centres of excellence for artificial intelligence, National Data Governance Policy, and Entity DigiLocker.
The new Diageo management had asked Vijay Mallya to step down.
The apex court has upheld the treatment of its business process outsourcing hub, Morgan Stanley Advantage Services, as a service permanent establishment.
The Delhi high court on Monday granted "last opportunity" to the Enforcement Directorate to respond to a petition by media baron Raghav Bahl to quash a money laundering case against him, but refused to pass an order staying the investigation at this stage.
The new income tax regime for filing returns has been "sweetened" in the Budget 2023-24 and it will be beneficial for maximum number of taxpayers as they can enjoy a "reduced" tax rate, CBDT chairman Nitin Gupta said. Speaking to PTI during a post-Budget interview, Gupta said the intent of the government while announcing the new slabs and rates under the new tax regime is to gradually "do away with deductions and exemptions" so that the "long-standing demand of reduction of taxes for individual taxpayers and entities can be met." Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting the Budget 2023-24 in the Parliament on Wednesday, said the government has made the new income tax regime more attractive for taxpayers and has thus brought about 'substantial changes' in its structure for the benefit of the middle class.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday hailed the Union Budget as an "all-inclusive" document while the Opposition dismissed it as "anti-people" and mere rhetoric lacking the vision for creating jobs and taming inflation.
It has also attached fresh 66 banks accounts, holding deposits of Rs 80.07 crore, of the Gitanjali group, owned by Modi's uncle Mehul Choksi.
Transfer pricing tax orders of Income Tax against Shell and Vodafone pertain to alleged undervaluation of shares issued by their domestic subsidiaries to the parent companies abroad.
Premises of former Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa's close aide Umesh were among those raided by Income Tax sleuths in the State on Thursday.
Stock exchanges have increased scrutiny of investors domiciled in Sikkim, following reports of illegal routing of investments through the Northeast state to evade taxes. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has directed its trading members (brokers) to re-verify and certify investors who have declared their permanent address as Sikkim. Further, brokers have been told to maintain a vigil on the location of devices used by Sikkim-based clients for trading to ensure these are genuine investors from the region.
Officials said it had informed the RBI about these alleged malpractices earlier and is regularly updating it about such modus operandi being deployed
The official also said that these verifications are being sought to be done online and any person of up to 70 years of age, who has deposited more than Rs 2.5 lakh in cash, has to go to I-T department website and explain the source of deposit.
The government managed to raise revenues by sending notices to high net individuals to did not file I-T returns last year.
The government has extended the last date for filing of income tax returns to October 3 instead of September 30, which was a bank holiday.
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The aim of the department is to check suspected tax evasion by the banking institutions and possible loss of revenue by illegal acts done by authorised individuals.
The authorities had sought explanation from these 18 lakh entities through SMS and emails
The Income-Tax department will have a say in mergers, demergers and amalgamations in 2006-07, with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) referring the first set of cases for clearance to the department.
For the first time, the Income Tax department has decided to set up special 'tax kiosks' in residential areas and localities for facilitating a host of taxpayer related services in view of the forthcoming tax returns filing season.
Rahul Gandhi's mother and senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has also got at least five refunds since the assessment year 2001-02, but there is no adjustment against any outstanding demand for her in this time period.
The taxman carried out a total of 677 search, survey and enquiry operations
The court also issued notice to the Income Tax department.
Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar on Monday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate in Delhi for a fresh round of questioning in the National Herald money laundering case.
Central Board of Direct Taxes chairman Sudhir Chandra told Business Standard that the changes have been approved in principle and necessary instructions would be issued soon.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday raised the personal income tax rebate limit, doled out sops on small savings and announced one of the biggest hikes in capital spending in the past decade as she did a tight rope walk in the Budget between staying fiscally prudent and meeting public expectations in the year before general elections.
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