The district administration's plan of giving priorities to digging of wells under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has started bearing fruits. The scheme has brought smiles to hundreds of farmers across the district. Official records show that the farmers have doubled their income by growing crops in about 7,200 acres in all seasons. Many farmers like Mahli Oraon at Rampur village of Sadar block shared their success...

Most states now levy greater tax on petrol than the central government, without having to share the subsidy burden. After last week’s increase in prices, state sales tax/VAT on petrol is more than central excise in most cases. The central government levies a fixed excise duty of Rs 14.78 on every litre of petrol. But, states levy an ad valorem tax which, in absolute terms, increases with every price increase of...

-The Hindu The government has constituted one more expert group to re-examine the methodology for fixing a poverty line and estimating the incidence of poverty in the country. Changes in average incomes and consumption patterns over time may require review and revision of the approach currently in use. However, the last such review of the methodology originally recommended by the Lakdawala committee (1993) was undertaken after more than a decade by...

-The Times of India The government's white paper on black money, tabled in Parliament on Monday, listed a one-time tax amnesty to recover funds stashed abroad and a gold deposit scheme for locals as possible ways to deal with the menace, while suggesting that individuals get the tax department's go-ahead for all property deals and face undue scrutiny on cash in their possession. It also called for setting up of independent regulators,...

Under fire from all quarters for its inability to tackle the problem of black money, the government plans to focus on the real estate and gold and jewellery sectors to stanch the movement of unaccounted funds. The proposed white paper on black money, to be tabled in Parliament’s current session, is likely to propose a debate on “offshore voluntary compliance” for tax evaders with large sums stashed abroad, officials involved in...