Business News

MHA invites Ladakh bodies for discussion

Business News - February 3, 2024 - 12:30am
Categories: Business News

Relief on old tax demand can’t exceed Rs 1L

Business News - February 3, 2024 - 12:24am
The interim budget has proposed withdrawal of outstanding direct tax demands if the amount is up to ₹25,000 a year till fiscal 2010 and up to ₹10,000 between fiscal 2010 and 2014. But a taxpayer can seek the withdrawal of tax notices for more than one year with a total cap of ₹1 lakh, revenue secretary Sanjay Malhotra tells Anuradha Shukla and Deepshikha Sikarwar. Edited excerpts:The finance minister has announced withdrawal of past demands up to fiscal 2014. Will there be certain conditions attached and by when would it be operationalised?This will take about two months. The details are being worked out. The only condition is the relief to a single taxpayer will not exceed ₹1 lakh. If an individual demand amount is limited to ₹25,000, the taxpayer can have more than one demand. But the total amount that will be withdrawn per individual will not exceed a lakh.Will this apply even in search cases?This will apply to all.FM has spoken about taxpayer services in her speech? What could be next on the table for taxpayer services?Improving taxpayer services is something which has been the focus of the government for the last five years and shall continue to be so. It is a continuing agenda because there is much to be done. Trust, technology, tax certainty, tax simplification and rationalisation are going to be the core pillars on which we propose to improve taxpayer service.What are you alluding to in respect of simplification and rationalisation?I am not alluding to anything specific. There will be various measures as and when they are required. This is only an interim budget. The main budget will be in July and then things can happen, even outside the budget. We keep getting suggestions from various quarters. For example, look at indirect taxes. We reduced customs duty on most of the parts for mobile phones to 10% from 15% as there was a need felt in the interest of simplification and to avoid disputes. There were interpretational issues, so now those were done outside the budget.The intent of the government is always to keep things simple. But in the process, sometimes things happen inadvertently that do not pan out as expected. So that remains to be a focus area. There are some grievances on the technology side in direct taxes. There are some tax demands that are because of technical errors in the IT system. Similarly, how we can improve our risk assessment with use of better artificial intelligence, better machine learning and new technologies so that we are able to pinpoint more correctly those who have avoided or evaded the taxes. Use of technology for improving taxpayer services as well as for better enforcement is very much part of our agenda.There was an expectation that the 15% rate for manufacturing companies would be extended...Manufacturing investments take a long time to fructify. That is why in 2019, a four-year window was given and then extended because of Covid. It was not extended last year but before that. So sufficient time had already been given. And we have seen the benefits thereof. Some companies have started coming in and they have used this particular taxation provision; they will get the benefits thereof. Even otherwise, corporate tax rates are very reasonable now at 22%, if one compares globally.So, this is off the table.Certainly. This is something which is behind us.There is a gradual decline in customs and excise duty estimates. Any specific reason for this?Overall, trade is down globally. In our country, it is up in rupee terms but down in dollar terms. So, in customs we are having a growth rate of only about 2%. That is why there is a downward projection. Similarly, in excise as we stand till December, there is a 5% decrease. The decrease is primarily because of two reasons. There was a duty cut so there is a base effect. Also, the windfall tax is much less, roughly about 50% less than last year, which was ₹25,000-26,000 crore. As a result, we have reduced the revised estimate compared to budget estimates.There was a lot of discussion around simplifying capital gains. Is that off the table?As I said, rationalisation and simplification is an ongoing exercise. If there is a need or people see that there is a need for rationalisation, or if it needs to be simplified, then certainly the government takes cognisance of such demands and takes appropriate decisions at an appropriate time.Companies were expecting clarity on Pillar 2 (rules under the Global Anti-Base Erosion model)...This is an interim budget. Clarity will be provided in the main budget. We have set up a committee and they are looking into it.
Categories: Business News

Seek relief in HC: SC to Hemant Soren

Business News - February 2, 2024 - 11:38pm
Categories: Business News

Fusion CX opens 500-seat BPO facility in Mumbai; firm's India workforce to hit 10,000 in next quarter

Business News - February 2, 2024 - 10:12pm
Mumbai: Business process management (BPM) company Fusion CX on Friday announced the opening of a 500-seat facility in Navi Mumbai. The company, which employs 9,500 of its global workforce of over 14,000 in India, aims to add another 500 employees to take its overall base in the country to over 10,000 in the next quarter, as per an official statement. It will serve global clientele out of the newly-opened facility spread over 20,000 square feet. The facility will help offer multi-lingual, omni-channel customer experience management, technical support, and back-office operations to clients in various sectors including healthcare, BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance), technology, retail, and utilities. The company's director and co-founder Kishore Saraogi said the expansion of the Mumbai operation will help Fusion CX establish a strong presence in all four regions (north, east, west, south) of the country.
Categories: Business News

ICICI Prudential MF dumps 2% ZEE stake following Sony-merger collapse

Business News - February 2, 2024 - 9:07pm
ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund has sold a partial stake in Zee Entertainment amid a price crash following the termination of a merger with Sony.According to an exchange filing, I-Pru MF has sold 2.06 crore shares or 2.15% stake between January 20 and January 30 in a series of secondary market transactions.At the end of the December quarter, the fund house held a 7.25% stake in the company and post the stake sale, it has about 5.09%.On January 22, Sony decided to pull the plug on the $10-billion merger with ZEE, resulting in a share price crash. In the last two weeks, the stock has lost 27%.Since the announcement two years ago, the Zee-Sony merger treaded on a thin line over multiple issues, the main one being Punit Goenka's firm stand of running the combined entity.The deal would have created an Indian TV juggernaut with more than 90 channels across sports, entertainment and news that would have competed with the likes of Walt Disney and billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance.The collapse of the deal is a bigger setback for Zee, according to analysts.It was initially expected that the deal would be completed within the stipulated deadline of December 2023. However, Zee requested Sony to extend the deadline to resolve critical issues.After Zee requested an extension, Sony was reported to file a termination notice before the extended January 20 deadline, which eventually turned out to be the case.Post the merger collapse, many brokerages downgraded the company's stock and revised target prices.Zee is facing stiff competition from digital media and a potential threat from the merger of RIL-Disney in the near term. The company has reported muted growth/profitability performance in the past two years, as revenue growth has converged (flat in FY20-23) and EBITDA margin dipped to 10.7% due to: losses in the OTT segment and lower growth in linear TV segment.
Categories: Business News

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