'Voter fraud' row explodes in Karnataka, minister KN Rajanna resigns
And actor Rana Daggubati was grilled by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Hyderabad in connection with an ongoing investigation into the alleged illegal promotion of online betting platforms. These are some of the top stories on Super 6.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
16 minutes ago
- Indian Express
New Income Tax Bill corrects anomalies, allows refunds for returns filed beyond deadline
After last week's withdrawal of the earlier version of the new Income Tax Bill, the Lok Sabha on Monday passed the updated version, the Income-Tax (No.2) Bill, 2025 and the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which amends the Income-tax Act, 1961 and the Finance Act, 2025. The government accepted most of the recommendations of the Select Committee, headed by BJP leader Baijayant Panda, and corrected several anomalies in the updated 624-page Income Tax Bill including those for LLPs and anonymous donations to religious-cum-charitable trusts. Among the significant changes made in the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025 that sought to amend the Finance Act, 2025 was the inclusion of the 'Public Investment Fund of the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia' and its wholly-owned subsidiaries which make investment, directly or indirectly, out of the Fund in clause (23FE) of the Income-tax Act. Income tax exemption is given at present to several sovereign wealth funds including Saudi's Public Investment Fund, which has over $925 billion assets under management and was notified for I-T exemption in November 2022. However, the Fund had faced some restrictive norms related to investments through various subsidiaries. With this amendment, the government has granted complete income tax exemption to Saudi's Fund by specifying its name explicitly in the Act as has been done earlier for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). Introduced in Finance Act, 2020, Clause (23FE) of section 10 of the Act provides for the exemption to specified persons from the income in the nature of dividend, interest, long-term capital gains or certain other incomes arising from an investment made by it in India. The amendments for Saudi's Fund are significant as it may explore investment opportunities in India including a stake in the two new refineries being planned by state-run ONGC and BPCL. The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill also extended income tax benefits under the market-linked national pension system (NPS) to the guaranteed unified pension scheme (UPS) to provide further impetus to the scheme. Lump sum payments or the accumulated UPS corpus, up to 60 per cent, from contributions made during a person's working years can be now withdrawn tax-free at the time of retirement. Separately, in the changes made in the Income-Tax (No.2) Bill, 2025, the government tweaked drafting errors to correct anomalies like allowing individuals to claim TDS refund even if income tax return is filed after the deadline. It aligned the applicability of the Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT) for Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) with the existing provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961, removing the expanded scope that would have included LLPs not claiming specific tax benefits and attracted a higher rate of 18.5 per cent as against the preferential rate of 12.5 per cent. 'One of the most crucial amendments in the updated bill is the revision of Clause 263, which addresses the eligibility for claiming income-tax refunds. The original draft included a provision—Clause 263(1)(a)(ix)—that could have been interpreted to mean that a taxpayer could only claim a refund if their tax return was filed on or before the statutory due date. This represented a significant departure from the established legal position, where refunds could be claimed even for belatedly filed returns. Recognising the potential for this to cause undue hardship and create ambiguity, the newly introduced bill has completely omitted this restrictive clause,' Amit Maheshwari, Tax Partner, AKM Global said. The new Bill also clarified that there will be nil TCS on Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) remittances for education purposes financed by any financial institutions, a provision that had gone missing in the earlier version. The Bill has also allowed taxpayers who do not have any I-T liability to obtain nil-TDS certificate along with deductions for certain inter-corporate dividends for companies opting for a concessional rate, in line with the existing provisions. The Government seeks to replace the existing Income-Tax Act, 1961 through the new I-T Bill, 2025, which was first introduced in Parliament on February 13, 2025, to simplify the six-decade-old structure of direct taxation by streamlining provisions, removing obsolete references, and creating a crisper and simpler legal framework. The new I-T Bill, is likely to come into effect from April 1, 2026. Certain amendments have been made to remove ambiguities related to transfer pricing provisions along with changes relating to the carry forward and set-off of losses. The reference to the beneficial owner has been omitted to align with Section 79 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 along with a clarification of applicability of 30 per cent standard deduction after deduction of municipal taxes while calculating house property income. 'Notable changes such as the inclusion of nil-TCS (tax collection at source) for specified LRS education remittances, provision for nil-TDS certificates, reinstatement of inter-corporate dividend deductions for companies availing concessional tax rates, and the removal of the beneficial owner condition in loss set-off provisions address key gaps in the earlier draft,' Sandeep Jhunjhunwala, partner, Nangia Andersen LLP, said. The Select Committee's recommendation that exemption should be allowed to non-profit organisations (NPOs) for 5 per cent of the total donation instead of just 5 per cent of anonymous donations, as is the case in the existing Act, has been incorporated in the revised Bill. 'Like many other changes made in the revised bill, this amendment also addresses an inadvertent drafting anomaly in the original bill,' Sachin Garg, partner, Nangia & Co LLP, said. Like the earlier draft, the new Bill introduces the concept of 'tax year', which has been defined as the 12-month period beginning April 1. It has also retained the contentious definition of 'virtual digital space' — the powers to call for information by income tax authorities during surveys, searches and seizures including e-mail servers, social media accounts, online investment, trading and banking accounts, remote or cloud servers and digital application platforms. Clause 247 allows tax officers to bypass passwords and access digital platforms like emails and social media during searches. The provisions related to block assessment in search and seizure cases have also been streamlined, with a majority of changes made to replace the definition of 'total income' with 'total undisclosed income'. 'When the block assessment regime for search and seizure cases was introduced through the Finance Act, 2024, the law used the term 'total income' for determining the taxable base. This broad terminology created apprehension among taxpayers and professionals, as it suggested that even disclosed income — income already reported in returns or otherwise accounted for — could be brought within the ambit of the block assessment, potentially attracting harsh penalties. Recognising these concerns, the Finance Act, 2025 has revised the definition and replaced the term 'total income' with the more precise term 'total undisclosed income'.' 'This change makes it clear that the primary objective of search and seizure proceedings is to identify, tax, and penalise income that has been concealed or not reported, rather than re-assessing income that is already on record. This change was not recorded in earlier draft of income tax bill 2025,' Maheshwari said. Aanchal Magazine is Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and reports on the macro economy and fiscal policy, with a special focus on economic science, labour trends, taxation and revenue metrics. With over 13 years of newsroom experience, she has also reported in detail on macroeconomic data such as trends and policy actions related to inflation, GDP growth and fiscal arithmetic. Interested in the history of her homeland, Kashmir, she likes to read about its culture and tradition in her spare time, along with trying to map the journeys of displacement from there. ... Read More
Indian Express
16 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Amid Opp uproar: Rajya Sabha clears Bills on ST reservation in Goa House, merchant shipping through voice vote
The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed two significant Bills – the 'Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, 2025, and the 'Merchant Shipping Bill, 2025′ – through voice vote, as the Opposition members staged a walkout over their demand for a discussion on the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. The Upper House, which reconvened at 2 pm, took up the discussion on the Manipur Appropriation Bill, 2025, and The Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2025. Opposition MPs reached the House as the debate was going on and Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge was briefly allowed to speak by Sasmit Patra, who was in the Chair. Kharge sought to raise the issue of their protest march to the EC office, which the treasury benches strongly objected to, leading to a brief uproar. Leader of the House J P Nadda criticised the Opposition for disrupting proceedings and causing 'anarchism and obstructionism'. Patra said anything which doesn't pertain to the discussion on the schedule legislative business will not go on record. Amid the din, the Upper House returned the two Manipur Bills to the Lok Sabha through voice vote. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman slammed the Opposition for opposing the Manipur budget. She said while the Opposition MPs speak about Manipur, when its budget and GST Bills are being taken up, they are not just protesting on some other issue, but also voting against it. The Opposition soon staged a walkout, after which Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal moved the Merchant Shipping Bill, which is aimed at consolidating and amending the law relating to merchant shipping to ensure compliance with India's obligation under the maritime treaties. The Rajya Sabha passed the Bill with a voice vote; the Lok Sabha had passed it on August 6. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal moved 'The Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, 2025′ for consideration and passage in the Upper House. He said the Bill seeks to provide representation to the Scheduled Tribes in the 40-member state Assembly, which has one seat reserved for Scheduled Castes but none for STs. The Upper House passed the Bill through voice vote; it was passed by the Lok Sabha on August 5.
Time of India
30 minutes ago
- Time of India
Mitali hurt, Mahua faints as Del cops detain oppn MPs
1 2 Kolkata: Trinamool MP Mitali Bag was injured on Monday and hospitalised, while party MP Mahua Moitra fainted in the prison van as TMC MPs, along with INDIA bloc MPs, were detained by Delhi police during their protests against the special intensive revision (SIR) at the Election Commission 's Nirvachan Sadan headquarters. TMC said that the very fact that BJP was the only party to defend the EC's actions "shows clearly who the so-called 'independent constitutional body' is working for. " TMC's leader in the Rajya Sabha, Derek O'Brien, who, along with Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, was taken to a prison van, later posted on X, "These were four key issues which we wished to convey to the EC on SIR (vote chori): 1) Initiate an FIR against former CEC Rajeev Kumar for manipulation of the voters' list. 2) Going forward, implement digitisation of the voters' list. 3) No SIR should be conducted now. No bulldozing SIR in opposition-ruled states. (If the current voters' list is full of flaws, the Union govt should resign) 4) No political party will share BLA-2 details (profile, contact and photo) with the EC, as these will promptly reach the BJP." O'Brien said, "MPs from opposition parties asked the EC for an appointment. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Get ₹2Cr life cover@ ₹700 p.m. ICICI Pru Life Insurance Plan Get Quote Undo We were not allowed by police to reach the office of the EC. We were told we were being taken to the EC, but instead, we were hustled into a police station. We were released at 2.10 pm. So, the entire opposition could not reach Parliament on time." You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata TMC in a statement on X said, "In their desperation to crush dissent, Delhi police didn't even spare women MPs. When elected representatives are manhandled for standing up for people's rights, it's a flashing red alert for the death of democracy. Amit Shah's Delhi police perfected the art of political kidnapping today. Opposition MPs protesting Vote Chori were lied to, misled and ambushed. Told they were being taken to the EC headquarters, they were instead dragged to a police station and locked up till 2.10 pm, while Parliament was in session. This was a premeditated assault on democracy, engineered to muzzle dissent and sabotage Parliamentary debate." TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, speaking to reporters in Kolkata, said, "What the Delhi police did today was fascist, undemocratic and blatantly illegal. Even women MPs were harassed and manhandled. And this was a scheduled pre-announced programme. Delhi police come under the MHA. When BJP leaders cry hoarse in Kolkata about being allowed to stage protests anywhere and everywhere, they should take a long hard look at what the Delhi police do. " Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
