Budget's focus is to create jobs and improve workforce skills

The Budget has taken up several welcome measures for their benefit and overall trade facilitation

Tax proposals aim to bring in uniformity, improve compliance and reduce litigation

About 66 per cent of taxpayers out of the over 4 crore filers have opted for the new regime for income tax return (ITR) filing during the current season till now, CBDT Chairman Ravi Agrawal said Wednesday. He told PTI during a post-Budget interview that the focus of the government and the direct taxes administration is on "simplification" of the tax processes including filing of ITRs and conduct of other businesses with the Income Tax Department. "The philosophy (of the government) is that the more you simplify, the more it will make it easy for people to comply leading to increased compliance. "This is also reflected from the fact that, as on date, the number of returns (ITRs) that have been filed till yesterday is significantly more than the returns filed during the same time in the corresponding (last) year," Agrawal said. Last year, the figure of 4 crore ITR filings was crossed on July 25 but this time this number was crossed on the night of July 22, he said. He said there was

Finance Minister spoke on issues ranging from the private sector's role in job creation to coalition needs in making Budgets, at her North Block office

The finance minister said the private sector shouldn't feel the pressure as it is not mandatory

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said phased rollout plan of Kavach would be released soon

The industry had shown several concerns about the policy, which are now being deliberated on by the ministry before it unveils the final policy

Within the whole inflation basket, food inflation has been stubbornly high

We are moving in the direction of fiscal prudence as well as finding adequate money for priority expenditure, he says

In conversation with Shrimi Choudhary, the senior bureaucrat discusses several tax-related announcements in the Union Budget

Finance secretary discusses the Union Budget's emphasis on employment, skills, and state-level reforms

The income tax department on Wednesday issued a FAQ on changes in the capital gains tax saying the idea behind it was to simplify the tax structure and promote ease of compliance. The holding period for various asset classes for the purpose of short- and long-term capital gains tax has been rationalised. The holding period of all listed assets will be now one year for the purpose of long-term capital gains tax (LTCG). Therefore, for listed units of business trusts (ReITs, InVITs) holding period is reduced from 36 months to 12 months. The holding period of gold, unlisted securities (other than unlisted shares) is also reduced from 36 months to 24 months for calculating LTCG. The holding period of immovable property and unlisted shares remains the same as earlier i.e. 24 months. "Simplification of any tax structure has benefits of ease of compliance viz computation, filing, maintenance of records. This also removes the differential rates for various classes of assets," the income tax

The council will also have representation from NITI Aayog, the Indian Statistical Institute, and the Department of Science & Technology (DST)

A pilot study is underway in the country to enhance the viability of 60 fair price shops, also called ration shops, across four cities -- Hyderabad, Ghaziabad, Jaipur and Ahmedabad, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. This initiative, supported by the Centre in collaboration with respective state governments, aims to provide essential assistance to Fair Price Shops (FPS) operators through partnerships with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for working capital and B2B online wholesale aggregators focusing on nutritional products. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya, said in a broader effort to bolster FPS operations, the government has urged state and Union Territory (UT) administrations to introduce additional services at these shops. Proposed services include Common Service Centre (CSC) functionalities, banking partnerships with banks and corporate correspondents, and the retail .

The 'Vivad se Vishwas' scheme announced in the Budget for settlement of pending direct tax appeals will be launched this year and its notification apart from relevant FAQs would be issued soon, CBDT chairman Ravi Agrawal said Wednesday. Speaking to PTI during a post-Budget interview, the head of the direct taxes administration in the country said that a "substantial" number of income tax appeals are logged at the appellate stage in different forums and it is expected that a "reasonable" number of taxpayers will avail the new scheme. The first 'Vivad se Vishwas' scheme for cases under the direct taxes or income tax category was brought out by the government in 2020 and, according to the CBDT chief, it was "quite successful" with about Rs 75,000 crore revenue being garnered and about a lakh taxpayers availing the scheme. "The first date is (going to be) 31st of December by when we the taxpayer is supposed to actually opt for the scheme (Vivad se Vishwas 2024). Very soon, we will notif

Moody's Ratings notes that the Budget is credit positive

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will formulate strict timelines for different government agencies and departments for clearance of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) proposals from prioritised sectors, a top official said. DPIIT Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said though there is a standard operating procedure (SOP) for these clearances, still there are delays as the SOPs are not being followed. The secretary was responding to the Budget announcement that the rules and regulations for FDI and overseas investments will be simplified to facilitate foreign direct investments, and nudge prioritisation. He said that the concerned ministries and departments will be nudged to prioritise applications and speed up the process of approvals. "The idea is to cut short that (clearance and approval) process, we have not yet decided about the sectors where some liberalisation is possible, but certainly there is a view in the government that the processes, where the

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Wednesday began a two-day visit to India to galvanise negotiations for an ambitious Free Trade Agreement and reset the overall bilateral partnership in crucial areas such as clean energy, new technologies and security. As he embarked on the high-profile trip, Lammy described the negotiations for the trade deal as the floor and not the ceiling of the ambitions to unlock shared potential and deliver growth. The British foreign secretary's visit to New Delhi is the first high-level engagement between India and the UK after Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government came to power on July 5. "India is the emerging superpower of the 21st century, the largest country in the world with 1.4 billion people and one of the fastest growing economies in the world," Lammy said. "Our Free Trade Agreement negotiations is the floor not the ceiling of our ambitions to unlock our shared potential and deliver growth, from Bengaluru to Birmingham," he said.

According to the survey carried out by the global banker, the headline flash composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) figure rose to 61.4 in July, compared to 60.9 in June