ICICI Bank has received a demand notice of 768.6 crore from tax authorities for alleged short payment of GST, related to services provided to customers maintaining minimum balances.
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.
'Global uncertainty is something which definitely occupies the minds of officials when we are preparing for the Budget.'
'Tax cases are technical in nature... Many high courts do not have a tax bench, which also contributes to the delay.'
'...so cases that arose under the existing Act will be adjudicated under the old provisions.' 'Care has been taken to ensure that the new I-T Act does not give rise to interpretational issues.'
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.
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.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the government plans to raise capital gains exemption limit on certain financial assets to Rs 1.25 lakh per year for middle and upper middle class.
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.
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 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.
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.
A vast majority of the business leaders believe that the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes have been beneficial and expect an extension to other sectors in the coming years, a Deloitte Survey said on Friday. An overwhelming number of survey respondents hope the budget will fuel growth across industries by building strong domestic demand and focussing on capital expenditure and believe that it would define the 'Amrit Kaal'. "Critical to this growth will be the pace of capital expenditure, infrastructure development, and the need to boost infrastructure financing through private partnership. 60 per cent of respondents suggested raising funds through Indian Government Bonds," the survey said.
The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud has recommended the names of three advocates for appointment as judges of the Bombay high court.
DTC task force also favoured doing away with Dividend Distribution Tax by suggesting taxing dividends in the hands of shareholders.
The Vivaad se Vishwas scheme is a replica of the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Regulation) Scheme, 2019 (SVLDRS) for indirect tax litigation. The hope is that this would unlock revenue blocked in long-drawn litigation at various forums. Sources in the department say the total value at stake in these disputes would be Rs 5-6 trillion.
A robust dispute settlement system would help the government unlock tax revenues, and also aid ease of doing business.
Total number of tax disputes in SC cross 10,000
A record GST tax collection, an overhaul of the income tax return filing portal and the landmark move to scrap retrospective taxation have set the stage for the next level of reforms in tax administration that include bringing a framework for cryptocurrencies and rationalising the GST rate structure. With tax reforms such as faceless assessment taking roots, 2021 will go down as the year that pivoted the tax administration in a country aspiring to become the world's favourite investment destination. The task ahead is going to be a tough one as the tax department would grapple with taxing cryptocurrencies, rationalising Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates to shore up revenues and post June 2022, the scenario of how the GST revenue plays out for states without the Centre's support of compensation.
Providing comfort to the government on the revenue front amid fiscal stress, direct tax collection is moving closer to the revised Budget target for 2021-21 and may get a further thrust from the last instalment of the advance tax payment, the deadline for which ended on Monday. The contraction in net direct tax collection narrowed to 5 per cent year-on-year as on March 15 compared to a 9 per cent decline seen in January. In absolute terms, net collection stood at Rs 8.2 trillion against Rs 8.67 trillion in the same period last year, according to the provisional numbers shared by a government official.
Mukherjee said about Rs 2.42 lakh crore (Rs 2.42 trillion) in taxes is locked up in litigation before the CIT appeal, ITAT and high courts.
In a most perverse example of tax bullying, someone I know has got by three such notices reopening his assessment minutes before the midnight deadline of June 30, reveals Debashis Basu.
The government's plan to mop-up additional revenue from indirect tax may not materialise
'Appellants may not lap up the scheme because, first, to do so would amount to admission of guilt, and second, they may have smelled victory before higher appellate forums,' notes S Murlidharan.
India is often viewed as an aggressive tax jurisdiction by domestic and overseas taxpayers, and making the charter as part of the Act may help restore confidence among taxpayers.
In his maiden Budget presented in Parliament on July 10, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has tried to provide relief to the middle class by increasing tax exemption limit by Rs 50,000 to Rs 250,000.
Compliance requirements, valuation, input tax credit transfers are likely to lead to tax litigation, says Sayan Ghosal.
This is, say tax experts, the first time that a car race circuit has been held to be the permanent establishment of an assessee.
PE/VC investments touched a record $11.2 billion in the first half of 2017 against $8 billion in the same period in 2016
One of India Inc's top demands is the abolishing of the MAT.
Change in performance appraisal system will deter corruption and motivate officers to pass correct orders.
Arun Jaitley said he would put the DTC Bill in cold storage.
The loss in Bihar has forced a change in NDA's market positioning, says Shekhar Gupta.
In more trouble for Finnish mobile firm Nokia, whose immovable assets were attached in an alleged tax evasion case recently, the Income Tax department is set to issue fresh demand notices for payment of taxes to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion).
Jaitley sets condition of 50% assets for applicability of capital gain tax.
Clarity on the roadmap necessary to assess its likely impact on near-term fiscal health and investment.
The comments come at a time when the Supreme Court-constituted Special Investigation Team has detected funds worth about Rs 4,479 crore (Rs 44.79 billion) held by Indians in a Swiss branch of HSBC bank, while unaccounted wealth totalling Rs 14,958 crore (Rs 149.58 billion) have been traced within home.
GST is a landmark reform considering the sweeping changes it brings about in the indirect tax regime in India.
Foxconn is the world's largest contract manufacturer for electronic goods and makes iPhones for Apple and smartphones for its Chinese rival Xiaomi.
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