-The Indian Express The Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) was signed between India and Mauritius in 1982. Under this, any entity could apply for tax residency and pay zero capital gains tax. This became the principal reason why Mauritius emerged as a top channel for investments being routed into India. After Swiss Leaks, Panama Papers and Paradise Papers, come documents from Mauritius — over 200,000 emails, contracts and bank statements that...

-Livemint.com Transfers to states are stagnating at a time when developmental demands on state governments are rising Five years ago, when the 14th finance commission recommended an increase in devolution of funds to state governments and a hike in the share of untied funds they received, it was heralded as a new era for fiscal federalism in the country, and one that would significantly empower state governments at a time when they...

  During budget presentations, budget documents, which are provided, carry updated data and information related to various departments and ministries of the Central Government such as on revenues, expenditures, deficits etc. Recently economists like Dr. Rathin Roy and Prof. Jayati Ghosh have expressed concerns about the Ministry of Finance for not uploading updated and appropriate budgetary data and figures on the website www.indiabudget.gov.in following the 2019-20 Union Budget presentation by the...

-The Indian Express A 2 per cent TDS on cash withdrawals beyond Rs 1 crore may hit the farm trade hard. One of the 2019-20 Union Budget’s less-discussed proposals, having significant implications for agricultural trade, is the levy of a 2% TDS (tax deducted at source) on cash withdrawals exceeding Rs 1 crore in a year from any bank account. The levy — aimed at promoting “digital payments” and a “less cash...

-The Hindu The institution can play an important role in refreshing India’s fiscal federalism India’s Constitution-makers thought of India as a union of States with a centripetal bias, done, advisedly, to preserve the unity and integrity of a newly fledged nation. Since then, the Indian economy, polity, demography and society have undergone many changes. The new aspirational India is now firmly on a growth turnpike. It is in this context that we...