Shefali Anand

Mumbai

Contributor at The Wall Street Journal

Writer and Editor at Freelance

Journalist.

Articles

India’s Online Gaming Sector Has Billions in Play at High Court

3 weeks ago | news.bloombergtax.com | Shefali Anand

India’s online gaming industry has billions of dollars on the line as the nation’s Supreme Court considers one of the highest-value cases in the history of the goods and services tax law. The high court will effectively decide what GST rate applies to online games for past years, how much money is taxed, and whether a 28% rate can be applied retroactively. The country’s tax department has demanded more than $4 billion from several online gaming companies for alleged nonpayment of the tax.
Can tele-health finally bring quality care to India's rural patients?

3 weeks ago | impactalpha.com | Shefali Anand

On a recent Thursday, Hasina bibi sat on a bench along with other patients, waiting to meet a doctor in a clinic run by healthtech startup CureBay. The doctor would meet with her virtually on a TV screen while sitting miles away. Hasina, who didn’t share her last name, said she had traveled about 30 minutes from her village to reach CureBay’s clinic in India’s eastern state of Odisha. The journey to CureBay was better than going to the nearest city clinic, she said.
In India, clean energy investment and innovation includes nuclear power

1 month ago | impactalpha.com | Shefali Anand

India’s government is making a push to build up its nuclear capacity in a bid to convert 50% of its energy needs to renewable sources by 2030. Unlike past efforts, the government is looking to foster development and investment in new nuclear technologies, including small, modular reactors, and promising methods for producing nuclear fusion. Entrepreneurs and investors are encouraged by the government’s stance.
India’s Booming Support Centers Seek Flexible Tax Rules

1 month ago | news.bloomberglaw.com | Shefali Anand

Offshore centers in India that provide high-level services to multinationals are calling on the government to relax its transfer pricing rules to remain competitive. They advocate speeding up advance tax agreements and broadening the eligibility requirements for a safe harbor to make it easier to provide needed services to foreign partners.
India’s Booming Support Centers Seek Flexible Tax Rules

1 month ago | news.bloombergtax.com | Shefali Anand

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India's Record Number of Advance Tax Deals Seen Spurring Demand

1 month ago | news.bloombergtax.com | Shefali Anand

XYour Choices Regarding Cookies and IdentifiersWe and our 150 third party partners use cookies and similar technologies ("Cookies") and hashed identifiers (e.g., a hashed version of your name, email address or phone number) to help us identify you on our site and third-party sites and to process certain information, such as your IP address and digital identifiers, to analyze site usage and provide you with relevant advertisements and content.
India Signs Record Number of Advance Tax Pacts With Companies

2 months ago | news.bloombergtax.com | Shefali Anand

India’s tax department entered into a record number of advance tax agreements with companies on their transfer pricing positions in the fiscal year ended March 31. The Central Board of Direct Taxes signed 174 advance pricing agreements in 2024-2025, the highest number signed in a single financial year since the program was launched, according to a press release the CBDT issued Monday. India signed 125 APAs in fiscal year 2023-24 and 95 in fiscal year 2022-23.
India's Plans to End Digital Tax Seen as Benefit to Local Firms

2 months ago | news.bloombergtax.com | Shefali Anand

India’s plan to withdraw its tax on digital services is a welcome step for global technology companies like Google’s parent Alphabet and Meta Platforms, as well as for Indian companies and startups using these services who were ultimately bearing the costs, according to tax advisers. India finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed March 25 to remove its 6% equalization levy in an amendment to the 2025 finance bill presented in Parliament.
Elevar Equity says low-income customers are more profitable - and has the data to prove it

2 months ago | impactalpha.com | Shefali Anand

Companies serving low-income households have been leveraging data tools to prove that their customers are reliable, bankable, and yes, worth investing in. A new index of publicly-listed companies in India is proving that this consumer segment is profitable. The Entrepreneurial Households India index, or EHI, has gained 16.4% annually since January 2017, against 13.6% for the Nifty 50 benchmark of India’s largest companies.
India's New Tax Code Lacks Substantive Changes, Tax Pros Say

Feb 24, 2025 | news.bloombergtax.com | Shefali Anand

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