Latest News

This will bring down capital gains especially in case of property transactions Capital gains   on sales of assets such as property and gold will decline after the proposal to shift the base year for calculation of the indexation benefit from 1981 to 2001, as announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The cost index helps to increase the price of acquisition of an asset by taking inflation into account. To calculate the capital gains at the time of selling any property purchased before 1981, its purchase price is now calculated on the basis of the fair market value of 1981. Calculation at the fair market value of 2001 will increase the cost of acquisition and lower the capital gain. If property or jewellery is held for more than three years, the long-term capital gains tax rate is 20 per cent with indexation. To arrive at the indexed value, the cost of acquisition of the asset is taken into account. The cost of acquisition was assumed to be the fair market...

Budget 2017  : Your tax liability would now be lower when you sell a house in the third year after purchase. You can now claim long term capital gains (LTCG), if you sell a house after holding it for two years from the date of completion. Earlier, one could claim LTCG only after a holding period of three years. The rate for LTCG tax usually works out to be lower compared to short term capital gains (STCG) tax. LTCG is paid either at flat 10% or 20% after adjusting the property price for inflation. STCG is added to the income of the seller and taxed as per his income tax slab, which comes to 30% if the gains are Rs 10 lakh or more. While announcing the move, Finance Minister Arun Jaitleysaid: “This move will significantly reduce the capital gain tax liability while encouraging the mobility of assets." “The government seems to have made the changes to revive the property market that has suffered due to demonetisation,” says Rahul Garg...

Markets gave a thumbs up to the  Budget 2017  proposals by finance minister Arun Jaitley, with the S&P BSE Sensex and the Nifty50 indices settling nearly 1.8% higher each at 28,142 and 8,716 levels respectively. This is the first time since October 25 that the Nifty50 index has closed above 8,700 levels. Broader markets, too, rallied in tandem. The BSE Mid-cap and BSE Small-cap indices closed 1.7% higher each. "The government had a tough call of treading very carefully between the need for stimulating demand in a weak economic environment after demonetization and continuing on the path of fiscal consolidation. It needs to be complemented for bringing in greater transparency in political funding and relaxing the domestic transfer pricing rules. It has allocated higher sums for farmers, rural population, youth, poor and underprivileged, infrastructure etc, which will have a ripple effect on the formal economy with a lag,” said Dhiraj Rell...

The Centre on Wednesday approved extension of tenure of loans under Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) to 20 years from 15 years and introduction of a new CLSS for middle income group with a provision of Rs 1,000 crore in 2017-18. "The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister  Narendra Modi  has given ex-post facto approval to the proposals for extension of tenure of loans under the CLSS vertical of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) Mission from 15 to 20 years," said an official statement. According to the statement, the scheme will be renamed as CLSS for EWS/LIG — for economically weaker sections (EWS) of society/Lower Income Group (LIG). Besides, the Cabinet approved the introduction of a new Credit-Linked Subsidy Scheme for the Middle Income Group (MIG).  Read more

Here are the highlights of Jaitley's  Budget  for the 2017/18 fiscal year that begins on April 1. FISCAL DEFICIT * The 2017/18 budget seeks to pursue prudent fiscal management to preserve financial stability. *Fiscal deficit at 3.4%   *Revenue deficit stands reduced to 2.1% in Fy18 GROWTH * Jaitley says India seen as an engine of global growth DEMONETISATION * Demonetisation "a bold and decisive measure", will make GDP bigger and lead to higher tax revenues - finance minister  * Hit to economy from government decision to outlaw high-denomination notes will be "transient", effects of demonetisation not expected to spill over to next year * Pace of remonetisation has picked up and will soon reach comfortable levels * Surplus money in the banking system will lower borrowing costs, increase credit flow INFLATION *Consumer price index inflation is expected to remain within the central bank's mandated range of 2 to 6% ...

Benchmark indices were trading flat during the early morning trade as investors awauted  Union Budget , to be tabled later in the day. Arun Jaitley is likely to boost spending and ease back on cutting the deficit in his fourth budget, as he seeks to lift growth hit by the demonetisation drive.   At 10:23 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 27,629, down 27 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 8,545, down 16 points.   In the broader market, BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcapindices gained 0.09% and 0.07% respectively. "Yesterday’s slippage saw buying interest from the 8,580 region on anticipated lines, but without enough signs of resumption of uptrend. To this end, early rise into the 8,600-8,640 region should attract long liquidation attempts yet again, though a sharp fall is less expected," said Geogit BNP Paribas in a note. Read more: BUDGET LIVE: Budget on schedule, Cabinet meeting to be held shortly

Union Budget 2017 BUDGET EXPECTATION: We expect the Government to announce an ‘anti-rich’ budget which focusses on installing penalties on cash transactions, tax on the withdrawal of cash from the banking system, income tax relief for the middle class and potentially an adverse capital gains tax-related decision for equity investments. Additionally, we expect a moderate increase in revenue expenditure allocation whilst capex is deprioritised. As regards the fiscal deficit, the Government is likely to postpone the fiscal goalpost of hitting 3% of GDP in FY18. -- Ambit Capital  Click here : BUDGET LIVE: Budget on schedule, Arun Jaitley leaves for Rashtrapati Bhawan