North East

Government plans to increase import duties on more than 50 items including electronics, electrical goods, chemicals and handicrafts, targeting about $56 billion worth of imports from China and elsewhere, officials and industry sources said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman could make the announcement when she presents her annual budget for 2020/21 on February 1, along with other stimulus measures to revive sagging economic growth, one of the government officials said. Higher customs duties are likely to hit goods such as mobile phone chargers, industrial chemicals, lamps, wooden furniture, candles, jewellery and handicraft items, two government sources with direct knowledge of the…

India's corporate and income tax collection for the current year is likely to fall for the first time in at least two decades, over half a dozen senior tax officials told Reuters, amid a sharp fall in economic growth and cut in corporate tax rates.Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government was targetting direct tax collection of Rs 13.5 lakh crore for the year ending March 31 - a 17 per cent increase over the prior fiscal year.However, a sharp decline in demand has stung businesses, forcing companies to cut investment and jobs, denting tax collections and prompting the government to forecast…