Top Headlines: Tax benefits to SEZs, Parliament's winter session and more

Business Standard brings you the top headlines at this hour

Centre expects net direct and indirect tax collections combined to exceed budget targets so much so that it may still enable the government to meet the fiscal deficit target for FY23. Anonymity in all retail CBDC wallet-to-wallet dealings shall boost customer confidence to use the digital rupee in India. Read more on these in our morning brief of top headlines.

Centre still hopeful on 6.4% fiscal deficit on back of tax revenue gains

The Finance Ministry is expecting net direct and indirect tax collections combined to exceed budget targets by as much as Rs 4.5 trillion, a boost which may still enable it to meet the fiscal deficit target for FY23 of 6.4 percent of GDP, in spite of a challenging year on the expenditure front. Read More
 

FinMin rejects provision for tax benefits to SEZs under DESH Bill

The Union finance ministry has turned down the commerce ministry’s proposal to provide tax incentives to units set up in special economic zones (SEZs) as part of the Development of Enterprises and Services Hub (DESH) Bill, 2022, holding that it would “create havoc” for units outside such zones. Read More
 

Govt plans federal oversight of all real-money online games: Report

India's planned regulation of online gaming will apply to all real-money games after the prime minister's office overruled a proposal to only regulate games of skill and leave out games of chance, according to a government document and three sources. Read More
 

New political alliances, change of guard to mark Parliament Winter Session

New political alignments in Bihar – with Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JDU) walking out of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and joining the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) – and a leadership change in the Congress will be the new features of the Winter session of Parliament that will begin Wednesday, December 7, and end December 29 with a total of 17 sittings. With Congress leader Rahul Gandhi having already announced that he will not attend the session as he is busy with the Bharat Jodo yatra, the session is expected to be tranquil. Read More
 

Anonymity achieved in all retail CBDC wallet-to-wallet dealings done so far

All the wallet-to-wallet transactions of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the retail segment are anonymous as those transactions are not reflected in the core banking system of banks — a feature that shall boost customer confidence to use the digital rupee in India. Read More