Salary earners with an annual income between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 8 lakh will be saving more money, as the new income tax rate structure will come into effect from tomorrow. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had announced the new income tax rate structure in his budget. Though the Finance Bill 2010 has to be approved by Parliament, the direct tax structure will be effective from tomorrow. In the new tax structure, salaried people in the range of Rs 3 lakh and Rs 8 lakh will be paying about 10.3 and 20.6 percent as against the previous rate of 20.60 and 30.90 percent. People earning less than Rs 3 lakh annually will have to pay 10.3 percent tax and people earning above Rs 8 lakh will benefit marginally.

Other than personal income tax, the modified minimum alternate tax (MAT) will also be effective from tomorrow. MAT is the minimum tax that all companies are required to pay on book profit. MAT has also been altered and increased from 15 percent to 18 percent. No major change in tax structure is expected though there might be some minor alterations taking into consideration the industry chambers and other stakeholders at the time of the consideration of the Finance Bill in the Parliament. The direct tax proposals, as per his budget speech, would entail a revenue sacrifice of Rs 26,000 crore during 2010-11.

Sunil Bharti Mittal, the founder and CMD of Bharti Airtel, the country’s top mobile service provider, fulfilled the global dream by entering into a deal with Zain Telecom of Kuwait to acquire its African assets.

The Bharti-Zain deal worth $10.7bn, including the Zain debt of $1.7bn, signed on Tuesday in Amsterdam, the headquarters of Zain’s African operations, will add another 42mn customers to Bharti Airtel, propelling it to the fifth rank among world’s top mobile service providers.

Sunil Mittal termed the deal as a ‘pioneering step towards South-South co-operation’ and said, “This is India’s first and truly post-independence multinational. We will demonstrate to the world the business model we have built. This is a game-changer for India in Africa.”

Mr. Mittal added that Bharti Airtel will remain committed to African requirements and by partnering with local governments will provide ‘affordable telecom services to the remotest geographies and bridging the digital divide’. He added that the African operations of the company will be headed by Africans with support from the Indian side.

The next hurdle for Bharti Airtel is getting necessary regulatory clearance for its operation in 15 African countries. Another priority for the company would be turning around the loss-making operations. Seven of the African units are making huge losses, including its biggest unit and highest revenue earner, Nigeria. The Nigerian and Gabonese unit of Zain may prove to be stumbling blocks with its existing issues.

Despite this, Mr. Mittal is optimistic that Bharti Airtel will emerge a winner in the deal with support from its trusted partners.

Actor Akshay Kumar, who we can see in latest advertisement Tax Department advertisements these days, urging people to pay their taxes, has become the highest tax payer from Bollywood. He was the highest payer last year also.
He has paid Rs 9 crore as an advance tax in March, 2010. This would take his total advance tax payment for the year 2009-2010 to Rs 18 crore. Last year, he paid Rs 31 crore after a stint of huge hits.

He said, “It feels good and privileged to be the highest tax payer. It is also a greater sense of responsibility.” He is right now shooting for a movie named Tees Maar Khan which is being directed by Farah Khan. Akshay Kumar is followed by Aamir Khan who paid Rs 12 crore as advance tax and is followed by Superstar Shahrukh Khan who has had only 1 release in the year 2009-2010, My Name is Khan in January 2010. Salman Khan is the fourth highest tax payer with Rs.5.5 crore in the year 2009-2010.
So far, Kumar has had a difficult year as all of his five releases have failed to perform well on the box-office. The much hyped Chandni Chowk to China, Tasveer 8 x 19, Kambakht Ishq, De Dana Dan and Blue all struggled to impress the audiences.

Akshay had signed all these films amidst the success of his previous year’s films. Hence, they fetched him a huge sum as fee. The actor also endorses Thumbs Up, Dollar Vest, LG and Levis which has also contributed to his income.

He said, “Along with fulfilling my tax duties, I also feel the time has come for me to give back to society and the country at large. Which is why I am also using my brand status to do an ad for service tax. If I can get my message across to even half the people across, I feel it would be worth it.”
Abhishek Bachchan paid Rs 4.15 crore in advance tax, while Aishwarya Rai’s advance tax was Rs 2 crore. Amitabh Bachchan has filed Rs 2.9 crore as advanced tax in March, 2010 which has taken his total tax payment to Rs 4 crore.

Saif Ali Khan paid Rs 1.52 crore as advance tax which is quite low from his last year’s amount Rs, 5 crore. His girlfriend and actress Kareena Kapoor has paid Rs. 1.45 crore which has taken her total tax for 2009-2010 to Rs. 3.65 crore.