Types of Income Tax Detail (Guide)

Income tax is a form of taxation that individuals and businesses are required to pay on their earnings or profits. Types of income tax detail are provided by the Income-tax authority of India. There are many types of taxes, mainly categorised into direct and indirect taxes. In this article, we will explore different types of income taxes, their features, and how they impact taxpayers.

Table of Contents

What are the different types of tax explained?

There are two types of taxation in India, and various taxes are categorised into these two main domains: Direct and Indirect Tax.

Direct Tax

How Does Direct Tax Work?

As mentioned, you pay these taxes directly. Government-imposed levies cannot be transferred. Only the Department of Revenue’s Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) handles direct taxes. The CBDT might refer to several acts that regulate certain aspects of direct taxes to aid in its feeling of duty.

The following are among them:

India’s several direct tax types

Income Tax Act:

The IT Act of 1961 is another name for the Income Tax Act. The guidelines established by this statute control income tax in India. The income subject to this act’s taxation may come from various sources, including wages and investment earnings, ownership of real estate or a home, a business, etc. The tax benefit you can receive on a life insurance premium or a fixed deposit is outlined in the IT Act. It also determines the tax bracket for your income tax and the savings from your income through investments.

Wealth Tax Act:

The Wealth Tax Act is in charge of the taxes associated with the net worth of an individual, a Hindu Unified Family (HUF), or a business. It went into effect in 1951. The wealth tax was easy to calculate using the following:

One per cent of the excess money is due as tax if an individual’s net worth exceeds Rs. 30 lakhs. In the budget that was made public in 2015, it was abolished. Since then, it has been replaced with a 12 per cent levy on anybody who makes an annual income of more than Rs 1 crore. It also applies to businesses that bring in more than Rs. 10 crores annually. The new regulations drastically increased the amount of taxes the government would collect compared to the amount they would collect via wealth taxes.

Gift Tax Act:

The Gift Tax Act was established in 1958 and stipulated that anyone who received gifts, presents, valuables, or money must pay taxes on those items. The tax on the above gifts was maintained at 30% but was eliminated in 1998. When gifts were first presented, they were taxed if they resembled shares, jewellery, property, etc.

According to the new regulations, gifts provided by family members, including parents, spouses, uncles, aunts, sisters, and brothers, are not taxed. These taxes don’t even apply to gifts you receive from the government. The entire gift amount is taxable if someone other than one of the exempted entities gives it to you and its value exceeds Rs. 50,000.

Expenditure Tax Act:

The Expenditure Tax Act, established in 1987, deals with the expenses an individual may incur while using a restaurant’s or a hotel’s services. Except for Jammu and Kashmir, the entire country should use it. It claims that if the amount exceeds Rs. 3,000 and depends on a hotel or restaurant, certain expenses are subject to liability under the act.

Interest Tax Act:

The Interest Tax Act of 1974 deals with the tax on the interest generated in certain circumstances. According to the most recent revision, this act does not apply to interest earned after March 2000.

Indirect Tax

What is indirect taxation, exactly?

Indirect taxes are those assessed on both commodities and services. They differ from direct taxes in that they are levied on items rather than an individual who pays them directly to the Indian government; an intermediary, the person selling the commodity, then collects them.

Sales taxes, taxes on imported goods, value-added taxes (VAT), and other such taxes are the most insignificant indirect taxes. These taxes are levied by adding them to the cost of the good or service that is likely to increase the cost of the good.

Sales Tax:

Sales tax is the tax levied on the purchase of any good. Any item made in India or imported may qualify as a product, and services may also be included. The person who sells the item is assessed a sales tax, which is subsequently transferred to the person who purchases it and added to the item’s price.

A sales tax exclusive to each state in India is levied according to its own Sales Tax Legislation. In addition to this, a few states levy other extra fees, including works transaction tax, turnover tax, purchase tax, and similar taxes.

Service Tax:

Like sales tax, the service tax is added to the cost of every good sold in the nation. The FM stated in Budget 2015 that service tax rates would increase from 12.36 per cent to 14 per cent. It is not levied against commodities but rather against service providers, and it is collected once every three months or once a month, depending on how services are delivered.

It would be best to remember that it can be challenging to determine who is eligible for service tax because the service provided at restaurants combines the space, the waiter, and the food. A pronouncement was made that restaurants would collect service tax on 40% of the entire cost to eliminate haziness in this respect.

The GST, or Goods and Service Tax:

It is the most significant change to the indirect tax system in India since the market started opening up 25 years ago. Because it can be charged where consumption occurs, the goods and services tax is a consumption-based tax. Every step of the supply chain’s consumption of value-added services and goods is subject to the GST.

The vendor must pay the GST at the applicable rate but may recoup it using the tax credit method. The GST chargeable on the procurement of the goods and services can be offset against the GST chargeable on the supply of the goods and services.

Value Added Tax (VAT):

Value Added Tax (VAT), or commercial tax, is not levied on goods that are zero-rated for food and essential medicines or goods that are exported. The entire supply chain, from producers to dealers to distributors to the final consumer, is subject to VAT.

The VAT was a tax against the nation’s state governments’ wisdom. Not all states implemented it as soon as it was introduced. Some items sold in the state are subject to VAT, and the state sets the tax rate.

Customs Duty and Octroi:

Customs duty applies to imports. All air, sea, and land goods are affected. India charges customs for imported products. Customs duty ensures imports are taxed and paid for.

Like customs duties ensure that taxes are correctly assessed on products entering other nations, Octroi is tasked with ensuring that taxes are correctly assessed on commodities entering Indian state boundaries. It is imposed by the state government, which operates in a manner that is quite similar to customs duty.

Excise Duty:

In India, a tax is the excise duty applied to all made or produced commodities. This tax, also known as the Central Value Added Tax or CENVAT, differs from customs duty because it only applies to goods manufactured in India.

The government collects this tax on businesses that produce goods as well as from those that buy them and hire individuals to transport the commodities from the producer to their location.

According to the Central Excise Rule established by the Central Government of India, anyone who manufactures or produces any “excisable commodities or products” or stores such products in a depot must pay the applicable duty. No excisable products on which some duty is payable will be allowed to travel from anywhere 6 where they are manufactured or produced without paying the necessary duty payments under this plan.

FAQ- Types of income tax detail

1. What are some examples of income that is taxable?

The IRS taxes taxable income. It’s earned and unearned. Earned income includes wages, salaries, tips, commissions, bonuses, and self-employment. Investment income—interest, dividends, capital gains, royalties, and rental income—is unearned. Inheritances, gifts, and child support are tax-free.

2. What is the 3 income tax?

The percentage of revenue that pays them classifies them as progressive, regressive, and proportional taxes.

3. Which type of tax is highest in India?

The GST tax is the highest source of taxation for India.

4. What are the 10 types of taxable income?

Taxable Income Examples include Wages, Salaries, Bonuses, Annuities, Alimony, Discounts, Employee awards, Interest, Charges of fees and More.

Conclusion

Income tax is an important component of any economy since it generates revenue for the government to fund public services and infrastructure. On a bigger scale, we can probably all come to the conclusion that the collection of direct and indirect taxes is essential to the growth of our economy. Individuals and organizations must understand each types of income tax detail in order to comply with tax regulations, minimize tax responsibilities, and make informed financial decisions.

Let us know in the comments, if you have any queries!