Explore Business Standard
The government should target a capital spending of Rs 11 lakh crore in the Budget for the next fiscal while giving inflation-adjusted relief on personal income tax to boost consumer spending, rating agency ICRA said on Wednesday. ICRA Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said last year's record budgeted capital expenditure of Rs 11.11 lakh crore is likely to fall short by about Rs 1.4 lakh crore and the next year's target should be fixed at the last year's level with a focus on keeping borrowing within reasonable limits. Further, Nayar said capex numbers are trailing the run rate required to get to the Budget target in the current fiscal. Between April and November 2024, capex spending stood at Rs 5.13 lakh crore, 46 per cent of the Budget estimates of Rs 11.11 lakh crore. "We are looking at a large shortfall in the current fiscal. For next year, we are hoping that we will get fiscal space to prioritise capex... For FY26, based on the revenue numbers...a fiscal deficit of 4.5 per cent of GD
President Droupadi Murmu on Monday said efforts should be made to make tax collection less intrusive and underlined the need for greater use of technology in the process. Addressing trainee officers of the Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Indirect Taxes), who called on her at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here, the President said the responsibility of bringing new ideas and solutions in the field of tax administration lies with the young officers. Taxation is not only a means of increasing the country's revenue but is also important for social, economic and political development. The tax paid by the citizens of the country is used for the development of the country and its people, Murmu said. She told the trainee officers that if they do their work with dedication and devotion, then they will be able to make a great contribution to the development of the country, according to a statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan. "In this new and dynamic era, efforts should be made to make less
The government on Monday announced the Rs 1,435 crore PAN 2.0 Project to make the permanent account number a 'common business identifier' for all digital systems of government agencies. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for the PAN 2.0 Project of the Income Tax Department with a financial outlay of Rs 1,435 crore, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. The PAN 2.0 Project enables technology-driven transformation of taxpayer registration services and is aimed at ease of access and speedy service delivery with improved quality. Single source of truth and data consistency; eco-friendly processes and cost optimization; and security and optimisation of infrastructure for greater agility, are the other benefits of the project. "The PAN 2.0 Project resonates with the vision of the Government enshrined in Digital India by enabling the use of PAN as Common Identifier for all digital systems
The income tax department has allowed tax officials to either waive or reduce interest payable by a taxpayer, subject to specified conditions. Under the Income Tax Act Section 220 (2A), if a taxpayer fails to pay the tax amount specified in any demand notice, he/she is liable to pay interest at 1 per cent per month for the period of delay in making the payment. The Act also empowers Principal Chief Commissioner (PrCCIT) or Chief Commissioner (CCIT) or Principal Commissioner (PrCIT) or Commissioner rank officers to reduce or waive the amount interest due to be paid. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) through a circular dated November 4 has specified the monetary threshold of the interest that can be waived or reduced by the tax officers. Accordingly, PrCCIT rank officer can decide on reducing or waiving interest due of over Rs 1.5 crore. For interest due above Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore, CCIT rank officer will decide on the waiver/reduction, while PrCIT or Income Tax ...
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan topped the list of celebrity taxpayers with advance tax payment of Rs 92 crore in 2023-24, followed by Tamil actor 'Thalapathy' Vijay at a distant second, according to a list compiled by Fortune India Magazine. Fortune India's 'The Star Cast' list is based on advance tax payments by celebrities and places film star Salman Khan in the third position and Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan in fourth place. Virat Kohli paid Rs 66 crore in advance tax in 2023-24 fiscal -- making him the highest taxpayer among cricketers in the country. "Shah Rukh Khan tops the list of celebrity taxpayers in FY24 while Tamil superstar 'Thalapathy' Vijay moves ahead of the likes of Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Virat Kohli to emerge second (Advance Tax payment, FY24)," Fortune India said. According to Fortune India, 'Thalapathy' Vijay paid an advance tax of Rs 80 crore, followed by Salman Khan (Rs 75 crore), and Amitabh Bachchan (Rs 71 crore). Many other well-known fac
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has asked the Finance Ministry to identify high risk taxpayers in the GST composition scheme on a periodical basis and verify from other sources, including third parties, their declared value of sales to check tax evasion. Based on an analysis of 8.66 lakh composition taxpayers under the central jurisdiction between 2019-20 to 2021-22 fiscals, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) found that a significant number of GST taxpayers have a high risk of crossing the turnover threshold for composition levy scheme (CLS). These high risk taxpayers were identified by audit from the data contained in GST returns viz. GSTR-4A, GSTR-7 along with third party data sources such as IT returns, 'Vahan' database etc. The GST composition scheme is available to taxpayers whose aggregate turnover, in the preceding financial year, has not exceeded Rs 1.5 crore. For taxpayers in special category states, this limit is Rs 75 lakh. The CAG said two major risk ar