Revenue Secretary Mr. Sunil Mitra said the Government did not expect PSU employees to protest against divestment in state-run companies, adding that the target of Rs 40,000 crore next fiscal was “modest and achievable”.

In the current fiscal, the Government has divested stakes in Oil India, NHPC and NTPC, while the Rural Electrification Corporation float has just closed. NMDC is likely to hit the market next month; Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam will float shares in the next fiscal.

Source : The Telegraph 

The Finance Ministry said another round of restructuring of income tax slabs was likely after the direct taxes code came into effect from April 2011.

The Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee had widened the tax slabs in his budget proposals for year 2010-11. There will be no tax for income up to Rs 1.6 lakhs. A 10 per cent tax will be levied on income beyond Rs. 1.6 lakhs and up to Rs. 5 lakhs, a 20 per cent on income beyond Rs. 5 lakhs and up to Rs. 8 lakhs and 30 per cent on income beyond that.

The new tax code suggests a 10 per cent tax on income between Rs. 1.6 lakhs and Rs. 10 lakhs, 20 per cent on income up to Rs. 25 lakhs and 30 per cent on income beyond that. Net direct tax collections during the first 11 months of the present fiscal stood at Rs. 2,78,373 crore, up from Rs. 2,58,902 crore in the same period last fiscal, a growth of 7.52 per cent.

Finance Ministry officials, according to agencies, are confident that the direct tax target of Rs. 3,87,000 crore, revised from the budget estimate of Rs. 3,70,000 crore, for the current fiscal would be met as tax payers are likely to give more than Rs. 1,00,000 crore in the last month.

Source: The Telegraph