The Hindu Business Line : Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Stimulus for economy, hopes for the poor
THE Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, has delivered on the expectations of almost all sections of the society. His Budget for 2005-06, presented to Parliament on Monday, has a welcome income-tax package for the middle class, a response to ... More

Markets give thumbs up; Sensex zooms
THE bourses gave a six-gun salute to the Budget with the Sensex touching all-time high levels. Though both Sensex and Nifty were range bound during the Budget speech, they zoomed upwards soon after the conclusion of the speech with the markets ... More

At the heart of a tax on the `fringe'
THE Budget has imposed what it calls a `fringe benefit' tax on certain expenses incurred by corporates. These expenses are deemed to be in the nature of fringe benefits extended to employees. The specified expenses when incurred on ... More

Stake in private banks — Ministry plans to remove 10 pc cap on voting rights
THE Finance Ministry has proposed lifting the 10 per cent cap on voting rights to facilitate foreign banks acquire majority stake in Indian private banks flagged for restructuring by the RBI. In the first phase (March 2005 to March 2009) of ... More

Hurrah from both MIG and HIG
WHILE the middle-income group (MIG) has every reason to be pleased with the sizeable reduction in their income-tax liability, the higher-income group (HIG) can heave a sigh of relief now that the Finance Minister has ... More

Tax planning avenues
BUDGET 2005, prima facie, seems attractive from the personal taxpayer angle. The basic limit has been enhanced to Rs 1 lakh, and to a further Rs 1.25 lakh for women and Rs 1.50 lakh for senior citizens. This ... More

A level playing field for MFs
Mutual fund houses will also be allowed to float special pension funds to manage pension money, which will also qualify as savings. More

Gold funds: A new investment avenue
INDIAN investors who would like to add gold to their portfolio have been faced with a Hobson's choice so far. Either you invest in jewellery and sacrifice a significant portion of your investment to variations in caratage, wastage and making ... More

Corporate tax rate for domestic firms slashed to 30 pc
THE Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidamabaram, brought cheer to corporate India by aligning the corporate income-tax rate for domestic companies to the highest marginal personal income-tax rate of 30 per cent. A surcharge of 10 per cent would, ... More

Service tax net widens — Small players exempt
SMALL service providers had some good news coming their way from the Union Budget proposals announced by the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, on Monday. The Government has decided to exempt from service tax those service providers whose ... More

Mumbai set for makeover, to become financial hub
PROPONENTS of Mumbai makeover plans, who have been debating whether the city should fashion itself after Shanghai or Hong Kong, finally have reason to smile. The Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, was not exactly the toast of the town ... More