Author: Snehanshu Sunil Barapatre

After nearly two decades of being in force, the government is set to revamp the Special Economic Zone Act, of 2005 and replace it with the proposed draft Development of Enterprise and Service hubs. The bill is set to be tabled during the ongoing monsoon session of the parliament to overhaul the SEZ Act of 2005. Such a draft is prepared on the recommendations of “Baba Kalyani Committee” which was constituted in 2018 to evaluate the SEZ policy and make it WTO compatible. Background Earlier in the current year’s budget speech, finance minister Shrimati Nirmala Sitharaman announced to replace of…

Every year around 6.63 crore income tax returns are filled and the majority of these tax return filers are salaried persons. It is commonly understood that salaried persons pay maximum rate of tax on their gross income because of the lack of avenues for tax deductions and rebates. In this article, we will discuss the available methods to effectively reduce the net cash flow due to income taxes while being compliant with tax laws. One should take care not to incur any expenses in the name of tax savings which does not serve any purpose. In such a case, to…

Merry days ahead, RBI believes worse has passed. As the data released by Reserve Bank of India in July 2022 bulletin suggest inflation peaks. However, caution to be exercised as this prognosis may be premature. In its July bulletin, the Reserve Bank of India stated that there are signs that inflation may be peaking but added that this prediction may be premature. Consumer price index (CPI) data show that inflation, which is currently over the MPC’s tolerance band, was 7.01 percent in June compared to 7.04 percent in May and 7.79 percent in April. RBI in its bulletin says, Indian…

For the past few weeks, the dollar has been on the rise which has resulted in the rupee reaching an all-time low of ₹79.65/$. For the first time in nearly 2 decades, the dollar has reached parity with the euro @ $1.00005/€ Dollar-Euro parity, the possibility of more central bank tightening, and concerns about the state of economies throughout the world worried investors, sending the euro to within a hair’s breadth of parity with the dollar on Tuesday. Stock markets also declined. While sterling reached another two-year low and the yen was not far from its lowest in more than…

Due to the increasing trade deficit and FIIs pulling out funds, INR has been continuously weakening. On 11th July rupee traded at ₹79.33 against the dollar re-visiting the 5th July quote. RBI has taken many steps against weakening Rupee and took one more in this direction. Due to various global events such as the US fed rate hike, increasing oil prices, and supply chain disruptions, INR has been weakening in the global economy. India is a net importing country with energy (Crude oil and coal) being amongst the highest share. Thus, increasing energy prices is creating a trade deficit, leading…

Background on India-UK Bilateral FTA Both the countries formally started negotiating on the bilateral free-trade agreement to boost investments and trade in January 2022. In April 2022, the prime ministers of India & UK jointly set the timeline for Diwali to conclude the bilateral FTA talks. The India-UK bilateral FTA is currently in the fourth phase of talks. Previously, India has concluded a few bilateral trade talks with Australia and UAE in less than 3 months. However, India-UK FTA is much more comprehensive and detailed. It is expected to cover up to 90% of goods and 40% of services. It…