Given the many policy areas where the Centre and the states have not been seeing eye to eye in the last few years, it is time the Modi government convenes a meeting of the Inter-State Council, recommends A K Bhattacharya.
Bridging the fiscal deficit and facilitating investments were the prime concerns of Budget 2013.
The GST rates for all but six items were finalised at the first day of the two-day meeting of the GST Council, headed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising state representatives.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram has asked the Income Tax department to focus on the companies that pay less than effective tax rate of 24 per cent.
These products are extremely transparent and are the lowest charged products in the insurance space. The policyholder has to only pay the fund management charge. Hence, from the cost side, ULIPs are very competitive.
Tax experts G Srikanth and Anil Rego will answer all your tax queries in two different chats between 1 pm and 4 pm on Monday, February 3.
The increased tax target comes at a time when consumer spending and sales growth are slowing down and most companies are not investing in new capacities.
'We have set out a timetable to reduce income tax rates for all incomes below Rs 50 lakh, and to progressively eliminate the surcharges on income above Rs 50 lakh, by 2024.' The Budget speech past CII president Naushad Forbes wants to hear.
Analysts, however, suggest investors remain selective on realty stocks and buy only where there is revenue visibility and a credible promoter backing.
GST rate for petrol and diesel cars and hybrid vehicles is already at the highest bracket of 28 per cent plus cess.
The Budget proposed abolishing the under-performing, authority of advance ruling, to replace it with a two-member board of advance ruling.
The GST Council is scheduled to meet next on November 10 and may consider lowering tax rates on a host of goods such as handmade furniture, plastic products and daily use items like shampoo.
Once implemented, customers making payments using Rupay card or BHIM UPI will get a cashback of 20 per cent of the total GST amount, subject to a maximum of Rs 100.
The Budget has changed the rules for Indian citizens and persons of Indian origin visiting India. Instead of 182 days, the number of days has been reduced to 120. You will be treated as a resident of India for tax purposes if you stay in the country for more than 120 days in a financial year and 365 days in the past four years. One consequence of the change will be that people of Indian origin who reside outside India will be able to spend a smaller number of days in the country if they wish to keep their non-resident status intact, points out Sanjay Kumar Singh.
But use of that word -- privatisation -- is not encouraged. This seems to be a classic case of reforms through subtle signals, observes A K Bhattacharya.
Dosa batter, custard powder, kitchen lighter may become cheaper under GST
Fast-moving consumer goods companies have begun assessing the impact of the rate structure declared on Thursday under the goods and services tax.
Till such time that a new governance framework comes into being, the progress of reforms in health, education, land, labour, electricity and agriculture could remain fraught with problems, agitations and delays, observes A K Bhattacharya.
The new service tax of 14% will jack up costs of shopping, travel, insurance premiums and property purchases
India Inc is eagerly awaiting a cut in the corporate tax rate at par with the rates in leading Asean countries.
He says tapping sectors that pay less than the average corporate tax rate could yield Rs 30k cr
YES Bank, Bank of Baroda, SBI, IndusInd Bank, and RBL Bank are amongst the banks, Jefferies says, are most prune to "high risk" emanating from ADAG, Cox & Kings, CG Power, DHFL and Essar Shipping.
Going by the number of changes Mr Jaitley's next Budget is likely to see, he will go down in the history of Budget-making as the finance minister who ushered in the largest number of changes in a single Budget, says A K Bhattacharya.
This change will come into effect from April 1.
The duo bought additional shares in pharmaceutical companies Lupin and Jubilant Life Sciences, along with Agro Tech Foods and NCC during Q2FY21
Investors became richer by over Rs 6.34 lakh crore on Monday as markets gave a big shout-out to the Budget 2021-22, which analysts termed as 'unprecedented' against the backdrop of the pandemic-induced slowdown. Cheering the Budget proposals, the BSE benchmark Sensex zoomed 2,314.84 points or 5 per cent to close at 48,600.61. During the day, it jumped 2,478.63 points to 48,764.40. This was the best Budget-day gain for the markets since 1997, analysts said. Following the extremely positive market sentiment, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies rallied Rs 6,34,069.67 crore to Rs 1,92,46,713.70 crore.
'A broad-based revival of private sector investment was likely in 2018-19 after businesses had successfully made the switch to the GST.'
India is faced with a unique opportunity highest increase in working age (15-64) population over the next 20-30 years which can propel economic growth. India will account for 25 per cent of the global increase in workforce over the next 4 decades.
As India emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, the ninth budget under the Modi government, including an interim one, is widely expected to focus on boosting spending on job creation and rural development, generous allocations for development schemes, putting more money in the hands of the average taxpayer and easing rules to attract foreign investments.
GST Council extends anti-profiteering authority's tenure, sends rate cut on EVs to fitment panel and also extended the date for filing annual returns under the GST by two months to August 30.
'The current budgetary practice of shifting expenditures off-balance sheet in order to be seen to be meeting fiscal targets should be discontinued; additional fiscal stimulus would be imprudent; individual income tax rates should not be cut; GST rates should not be raised now,' advise Arvind Subramanian and Josh Felman.
The GST Council, headed by Jaitley and comprising representatives of all the states, is scheduled to meet in Srinagar on May 18-19 to finalise tax rates on different goods and services after unifying at least 10 indirect taxes into the Goods and Services Tax.
If a salaried employee does not possess Form 16, he can still file the I-T Return with the help of his salary slips and Form 26 AS.
While the PM sees zero tax on long-term capital gains and dividend income as unfair since the beneficiaries are not poor, he is silent on the fact that rich farmers too don't pay taxes, since farm income is tax-free, a loophole exploited by many netas and babus, says Debashis Basu.
At a time of falling GDP growth, the case for boosting revenue by increasing the tax rates is weak.
'We have promised to ensure reduced tax rates.'
Higher excise duty at 12 per cent would have negative impact on pesticides manufacturers.
He said a large number of transactions in property goes untaxed since the tax rates and the transaction costs are so high. He said effectively states' taxing powers are limited.
The five southern states source 10-15 per cent of their revenue from excise duty on liquor but account for nearly half of the total consumption, says a report. The financial position of these states is precarious as the coronavirus lockdown completely dried up this crucial liquidity tap for them in April.
The premium on insurance policies will get costlier by 3 per cent to 7 per cent, depending upon the rate fixed by the GST Council from April 1, 2017, says Harjot Singh Narula.
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