How ultra-rich stay rich; their world of trusts, private bankers and offshore destinations.

Cleansing the Indian economy of black money was one of the biggest promises PM Narendra Modi made before coming to power in 2014. Now that the Modi government has completed four years at the Centre, BusinessToday.In Editor Rajeev Dubey assesses the initiatives it took to curb the menace of black money.

Today, Finance Minister Arun Jately in a Facebook post described the note ban as a \"key step in a chain of important decisions taken by the government to formalize the economy\".

The Walmart-Flipkart deal is a possible nightmare for the tax department given the complex holding structure of the Indian e-commerce giant.

The tax department had last week written to Bentonville-Arkansas based Walmart saying that the US retail company can seek guidance about the tax liability under Section 195 (2) of the Income Tax Act.

The Income Tax Return Statistics released by the Income Tax Department for Assessment Year 2015-16 has revealed that more than 30,000 taxpayers earned over Rs 1 crore, whereas just 5 individuals had income in the range of Rs 100 - Rs 500 crore. 

This comes close on the heels of comments made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the annual conference of tax officers in September that the Income-tax Act, 1961 was drafted more than 50 years ago and it needs to be redrafted.

In June this year, India signed the Multilateral Convention (MLC) to implement tax treaty-related measures to prevent base erosion and profit shifting under the BEPS project.

Investors looking for treaty shopping may meet with failure as government hardens stance on tax evasion.

The use of excessive debt by companies in India or permanent establishment of foreign companies has received a blow from the budget this year as it proposes to restrict the deduction of interest expenses claimed by these companies.

Seeking to assuage investor concerns ahead of implementation of GAAR from April 1, the Tax Department on Friday said the provisions of tax avoidance rules will not apply to a transaction that does not carry a tax benefit based on the jurisdiction it is routed through.

Investors in India are bracing for higher taxes and less incentives from the government's annual budget to be unveiled on Feb. 1 as the focus shifts to wringing out revenues to finance giveaways and higher public investments to support the economy.

Now, the question is how a budget 2017 proposal counterbalance to help the Indian economy overcome the stress created by demonetisation which has impacted investments and sentiments.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley may address the transient pain of demonetisation by cutting corporate tax rates when he presents the Budget for 2017-18 in just over two weeks time.

General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) was part of the 2012-13 Budget speech of the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to check tax evasion and avoidance.