This issue of LexCognito, which in Latin means 'awareness about law', seeks to provide you an insight into significant legal and regulatory developments that have taken place very recently in India.
Date: 21 September 2019
Big Tax Announcements by Finance Minister
The Finance Minister of India yesterday announced big relieves for corporates in an attempt to provide an impetus to the sagging economy by introducing the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019. A summary of announcement is as follows:
Corporate tax rate to be reduced to 22%+surcharge for companies which do not operate under any exemption/incentive scheme and the effective corporate tax rate after surcharge for such companies will be 25.17%. Such companies will also not be required to pay Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT);
The Minister has stated that the companies already operating under incentive schemes may avail the reduced tax rate after completing the exemption period;
The effective tax rate for a new company setting up from October 2019 shall be 17.1%;
Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) is proposed to be reduced to 15% from present 18.5%;
Enhanced surcharge announced earlier shall not apply on capital gains arising on sale of any securities including derivatives in the hands of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs);
Buyback tax for listed companies announcing buybacks pre-July 5, 2019 will not be exempted;
Enhanced surcharge will not apply to capital gains arising on equity sale or equity-oriented funds liable to Securities Transaction Tax;
The 2% spend requirement towards CSR will also include permitted spending on government schemes, PSU incubators and public funded education entities, IITs etc.
Chambers of Rajan & Indraneel
T: +91 11 41000224, 41030225| Fax:+91 11 29239074
E-mail:rajan.gupta@chrilegal.com
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About us
Chambers of Rajan & Indraneel is a premier full service law firm headquartered at New Delhi, India. The Firm represents amalgamation of vast experiences and practices of two eminent lawyers. Indranil Ghosh is highly reputed as a disputes lawyer. He was a senior partner and head of litigation practice in one of the oldest Indian law firm Fox Mandal for several decades before setting up his own practice. Rajan D Gupta is a rank holder Chartered Accountant turned Corporate Lawyer. He is also a licensed Insolvency Resolution Professional. He has been associated with internationally renowned big law firms in past and has held senior level positions in firms like PwC, Fox Mandal, Khaitan & Co. and SRGR Law, etc. before starting the Firm.
We have a team of experienced Lawyers, Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries and Insolvency Resolution Professionals with access to network of high quality experienced lawyers in all major commercial cities of India.
The Firm offers a wide range of expert legal services in the areas of corporate and commercial laws and specializes in representing major foreign and domestic corporations with diverse business interests in India. The Firm is professionally equipped to handle large sized and complex corporate transactions like Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Restructuring, Joint Ventures, Inbound & Outbound Investments, Private Equity and Venture Capital Investment Transactions, Real Estate Transactions, Infrastructure Projects, Project Finance, Power Projects, Non-Conventional Energy Projects, Highways & Road Projects and Corporate Taxation as well as GST, etc. The Firm also offers proven capabilities in litigation and dispute resolution practice areas, especially in handling international and domestic arbitrations as well as litigation in Supreme Court, various High Courts of India and various judicial and quasi-judicial tribunals/forums including at National Client Law Tribunal, Appellate Tribunals, Tax Tribunals, Competition Commission, Electricity Tribunal, Telecom Disputes Tribunal, Designated Authorities and other adjudicatory bodies.
We have set up a Japan Business Desk (JBD) in order to serve our Japanese clients in a better way. The endeavour of the JBD is to act as a bridge between our professionals and clients from Japan so as to ensure that there are no barriers as to linguistic and cultural differences. This will indeed facilitate Japanese corporates doing business in India.
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