The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, February 19, 2005

Italian connections
IT IS WELCOME that India and Italy have set a bilateral trade target of 5 billion euros, to be attained in two years, as there exists considerable scope to step up the economic ties which are now worth 3 billion euros. Worked on appropriately, ... More

BUDGET

Centre's revenue performance: Need for sharper focus
AS THE Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, commences the final round of exercises for Budget 2005-06, a few creases may be appearing on his forehead as it might be difficult to reconcile to the grim fiscal performance ... More

TAXATION

Delegated power needs diligent exercise
T. N. Pandey on the avoidable complexity created by ad hoc changes to the I-T Rules More

Kick-starting the VAT debate
THE Centre has finally tabled its White Paper on State-level value-added tax. The tax, which is to come into force from April 1, was being contemplated for the past five years but could not be implemented with several ... More

Broad-base the slabs
T. C. A. Ramanujam offers suggestions for the forthcoming Budget More

Dekh Bhai Dekh
A NOT-SO-DULL case reported in a recent issue of Excise Law Times is that of Globe Entertainments. The issue that it brought up before the Mumbai CESTAT (Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal) was ... More

Warped view of education
S. Murlidharan on the anomaly in Section 80E on tax benefit for educational loan More

INCOME TAX

Three keys to direct tax reforms
The tax code defies simplification, and a new one drafted with precision and simplicity is imperative. Tax administration needs toning up, with perhaps the Tax Department outsourcing most of its functions, considering the world-class ITES now availab le in India. The National Tax Tribunal is the first step in a dispute resolution mechanism. But to bring finality to tax litigation, there must be Supreme Court Benches to dispose of appeals expeditiously. H. P. Ranina says the Finance Ministe r will indeed have a tough task ahead doing all this. More

BOOKS

Energy is a very subtle concept, too difficult to get right
WITH the promise of Aiyar's pipelines on one side and Natwar's buses on the other, it shouldn't really bother us if we lost out to Pakistan on cricket pitches that members of certain political parties love to dig up. ... More

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