The finance ministry on Thursday said 13th tranche of electoral bonds sale will take place from January 13 to January 22. Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding.
In perhaps the first instance, the finance ministry has kicked off the exercise to formulate the next budget by seeking suggestions on changes in direct and indirect taxes from industry and trade associations.
The subject came up for discussion at the meeting of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance last week. But what was meant as one-off mention soon became a full-blown issue with several members terming the move as bad for the economy.
The Budget Estimates for 2020-21 will be provisionally finalised after the expenditure secretary completes discussions with other secretaries and financial advisers. Pre-Budget meetings will begin from October 14 and continue till the first week of November, it said.
Seventy-one retired bureaucrats on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing concern over the prosecution of four former officials of the Finance Ministry in the INX Media case and asserted that such action will demotivate diligent and honest officers from taking important decisions.
Items likely to see a tax cut include luxury hotels and outdoor catering services. Luxury hotels which charge Rs 7,500 and above per night are now taxed at 28 per cent and outdoor catering services at 18 per cent.
Nearly 100 candidates have applied for the post of deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) - a position that fell vacant after Viral Acharya resigned six months before the scheduled end of his term.
Minor formalities remain to be completed on this front before the first disbursement of the sanctioned amount is released, the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries said.
The task force, headed by the economic affairs secretary, will draw up a 'National Infrastructure Pipeline' of Rs 100 lakh crore, the finance ministry said in a statement.
The labour ministry will soon notify 8.65 per cent rate of interest on Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) for 2018-19, said Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar on Friday. He also added that the finance ministry does not disagree on this rate.
7th pay commission: Central government employees are expected to get a huge pay hike by the end of July. Earlier, Centre has hinted to the staffers that it will increase the Dearness Allowance (DA) from July 1, 2019. The hike in the DA is expected to be from 4 to 5 per cent. However, if not increased by up to 4 per cent, still it will boost the central government employees salary from s 720 to Rs 10,000 per month depending on seniority and other relevant factors.
GST Council meet concluded on Saturday with a decision to reduce GST rates on electric vehicles and charges. The GST Council has decided to reduce GST rate on electrical vehicles from 12 per cent to 5 per cent. The council has also approved an exemption from GST on hiring of electric buses by the local authorities.
In a major bureaucratic reshuffle, Former Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg was shunted out of the Finance Ministry and appointed as the Power Secretary this week. The July 24 rejig raised eyebrows as Garg's transfer was seen as a demotion with designation of Finance Secretary being one of the most coveted positions in bureaucratic circles. Atanu Chakraborty, the former Secretary for the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), was named the Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs.
Tax officials detected Rs 37,946 crore worth of tax fraud in 2018-19 and Rs 6,520 crore in the April-June period of the current financial year after the GST implementation, the Finance Ministry told Parliament on Tuesday.
Ahead of Modi government's maiden Budget in the second term, an economic survey will project the state of health of the country's economy and outlining the challenges. The annual Economic Survey is usually presented a day before the presentation of the annual budget.
While the GST collections in June were lower than Rs 1,00,289 crore in May, they were higher than Rs 95,610 crore receipts in the same month of the previous year.
The NDA government would on July 5 unveil the full Budget for 2019-20. On February 1, the government had presented an Interim Budget to take Parliament nod for spending till the new government takes charge after the general elections.
"Payment of salaries in respect of Group A and B officers may be made after full Budget provisions are made available by Parliament", the memorandum said.
Withdrawing a cumulative Rs 10 lakh a year can attract 3-5 per cent tax if a proposal going around in the Finance Ministry takes shape in the Budget to track high value cash deals and make digital payments mandatory.
Nirmala Sitharaman joined the BJP in 2008 and has served as a spokesperson for the party. In 2014, she was inducted into Narendra Modi's cabinet as a junior minister and in June 2014, she elected as a Rajya Sabha Member from Andhra Pradesh.
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