The Finance Bill 2006 received the Hon. President’s assent yesterday (19th April, 2006).

The immediate implication of this is that the effective rate of Service Tax is enhanced to 12.24%; including education cess. This new rate, in my opinion, would be effective from the date the same is notified.

Stay tuned here for updates on the notifications.

The Economic Survey 2005-06 was released by the Hon Finance Minister yesterday. All the newspapers and other internet websites. Hence, I’ll not be repeating it here.

For those who would like to have soft copies of the Economic Survey 2005-06, here are the links:  All Chapters (.zip file), All Tables (.zip file)