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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said GST officers should be polite and empathetic in dealing with honest taxpayers and asked them to use technology for faster registration approvals and grievance redressal. She also asked field formations to "proactively" undertake trade facilitation measures. "There is no iron wall between you and trader, there is thin air. You can understand where the difficulty is, rather than muddy it up any further," she said. Speaking at the inauguration of the CGST building in Ghaziabad, the minister flagged the need for timely conclusion of any disciplinary proceedings against officers of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). This would send a clear message from the CBIC board that any misconduct, dereliction of duty or unethical behaviour by officers will not be tolerated. She said the ultimate goal of tax administration is to make life easy for honest taxpayers and to do that GST officers should follow the laid down SoP and sho
Florida taxpayers could be on the hook for USD 218 million the state spent to convert a remote training airport in the Everglades into an immigration detention centre dubbed Alligator Alcatraz. The centre may soon be completely empty as a judge upheld her decision late Wednesday ordering operations to wind down indefinitely. Shutting down the facility for the time being would cost the state USD 15 million to USD 20 million immediately, and it would cost another USD 15 million to USD 20 million to reinstall structures if Florida is allowed to reopen it, according to court filings by the state. The Florida Division of Emergency Management will lose most of the value of the USD 218 million it has invested in making the airport suitable for a detention centre, a state official said in court papers. Built in just a few days, the facility consists of chain-link cages surrounding large white tents filled with rows of bunk beds. An Associated Press analysis of publicly available state ..
Finance Ministry on Friday said CBDT is taking action against people having foreign income and as many as 5,483 taxpayers have filed belated returns reporting foreign assets worth Rs 29,208 crore and additional income of Rs 1,089.88 crore. Suitable action under the extant provision of law is under consideration for non-responsive taxpayers, the finance ministry said in a statement. The finance ministry's statement comes amid reports that money deposited in bank accounts of Indian entities in Switzerland has increased in 2024. Indian money parked in Swiss banks more than tripled in 2024 to 3.5 billion Swiss francs (nearly Rs 37,600 crore) on the back of a huge jump in funds held through local branches and other financial institutions, annual data released by Switzerland's central bank showed on Thursday. The ministry statement said that a total of 24,678 taxpayers reviewed their ITRs and 5,483 taxpayers filed their belated return for the assessment year (AY) 2024-25, reporting forei
The income tax department on Thursday said taxpayers will not be allowed to claim deduction for expenditures incurred to settle proceedings initiated under four laws, including the Sebi and the Competition Act. In a notification issued on April 23, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) notified that any expenditure incurred to settle proceedings initiated in relation to contravention or defaults under the four specified laws shall not be deemed to have been incurred for the purpose of business or profession and no deduction or allowance shall be made in respect of such expenditure. The four laws are the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992; the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956; the Depositories Act, 1996; And the Competition Act, 2002.
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