A uniform concessional basic duty of 5 per cent, CVD of 4 per cent with full exemption from special additional duty on all medial equipment are proposed doing away with a very complex import duty regime. The Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee while presenting the Union Budget in Lok Sabha today said that multiple rates coupled with descriptions not aligned with tariff lines result in disputes and at times prevent state-of-art equipment from getting the benefit of exemption.

Certain New Services to be brought within Service Tax Purview.Legislative Changes to Plug Revenue Leakages to Remove Distortions and to Clarify Certain Doubts.Process Of Refund of Accumulated Credit to Exporters of Services to Be Made Easy. Accredited News Agencies Providing Online Feed to be Exempted From Service Tax. Net Revenue Gain of Rs. 3,000 Crore Estimated From Service Tax Proposals.

AD-VALOREM ON NON PETRO PRODUCTS & CARS INCREASED BY 2 PERCENT. CENTRAL EXCISE ON PETROL & DIESEL RAISED BY RE. ONE PER LITRE.In the Union Budget 2010-11 presented by the Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha today, the rate reduction in Central Excise duties has been partially rolled back and the standard rate on all non-petroleum products enhanced from 8 per cent to 10 per cent ad valorem.

The Union Budget 2010-11 presented by the Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha today, provides relief measures to promote clean environment. Clean energy cess on coal produced in India as well as on the imported, will be levied at a rate of Rs. 50 per tonne. The measure is aimed at building the corpus of the National Clean Energy Fund.

The Union Home Minister, Shri P. Chidambaram has welcomed the General Budget for 2010-11 presented in Parliament on friday. In a statement issued here today, he described the budget as a very balanced effort . Following is the text of the statement.

On the question of fiscal consolidation, the much-awaited roll-back of the stimulus measures was announced in the Budget. There were expectations that this roll-back would be either calibrated or selective. But we saw an across-the-board increase in central excise duty from 8 to 10 per cent and there are obvious fears in certain quarters that prices will go up. Do you see this stoking inflation?

In the next financial year, the salaried will not only have more money to spend but also can look forward to easy tax filings. One of the income tax reforms that the finance minister announced on Friday was the introduction of Saral II form, which will only have two pages. The Income Tax Department is now ready to notify Saral-II form for individual salaried taxpayers for the coming assessment year. This form will enable individuals to enter relevant details in a simple format in only two pages,” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said during his Budget speech.

Provide that for making an order under that sub section the assessing officer shall, in addition to satisfying himself about the truthfulness of particulars furnished by a dealer , shall also satisfy himself that no interstate sale have been effected and also to provide that the deeming provision as contained therein to the effect that the movement of goods have not occasioned as a result of sale SHALL BE SUBJECT TO THE provisions of sub-section (3) and

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee took the first step towards implementation of the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) on Friday. While retaining the basic exemption limits for all income levels (as in the DTC), he increased the other slabs. For instance, while the basic exemption limit for individuals has been retained at Rs 1.6 lakh, the 10 per cent rate will now be applicable for the Rs 1.6 lakh-Rs 5 lakh bracket. Earlier, the 10 per cent rate was applicable for income of Rs 1.6-Rs 3 lakh. The hike in the slab means that the taxpayer is going to save Rs 20,600 for incomes up to Rs 5 lakh.

The question whether courts have the power to condone delay in filing of appeals under section 260A of the Income-tax Act arose because of careless drafting. While all other provisions of the Act provide that the authority therein can condone a delay in filing an application/appeal, the draftsman forgot to add a similar provision in s. 260A. This bit of careless drafting lead to a spate of litigation.