Income tax law made easier

THE NEW BILL includes virtual digital assets, also called cryptocurrencies in the category of 'undisclosed income' during searches, apart from the existing ones such as gold and bullion.

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As per the new provisions, 'undisclosed income' include money, bullion, jewellery, virtual digital asset etc. To be sure, the Bill provides that central government may, by notification, include/exclude any digital asset from this definition, subject to specified conditions.

The Bill doesn't enunciate any new policy with regard to international taxation, although digitalisation of commerce has brought up new and pressing issues in this regard. It seems that with the Trump administration withdrawing from the OECD-anchored two-pillar solution, meant to scupper tax avoidance by multinational corporations and affirm national taxation rights, India would bide time before unveiling its strategy. As such, India's tax policies have seen major changes in recent years, in keeping with the global practices, and towards minimising exemptions and deductions, and lower tax rates.