No tax for NRIs who buy overseas tour packages: India

News Network
April 1, 2022

New Delhi, Apr 1: The Indian government has ruled that domestic tour operators do not have to collect tax on the sale of overseas tour packages for NRIs.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has relaxed the provision of tax collected at source of five per cent under the Income Tax act.

The CBDT said domestic tour operators claimed they faced difficulties in collecting tax from NRIs visiting India, who had bought overseas packages from them.

“Since such persons may not have a PAN (Permanent Account Number) card, tax is required to be collected at higher rates,” said a CBDT release. “Further, such non-residents may find it difficult to furnish their ITR and claim refunds.”

The move has been welcomed by many people involved with NRI-related taxation issues.

“The purpose was to collect information and monitor tax compliances of high spending individuals,” Neeraj Agarwala, partner, Nangia Andersen LLP, told a newspaper.

“However, the way the provisions were drafted, tour operators were even required to collect taxes from non-residents, who are otherwise not taxable in India, at the time of booking their return tickets from India.”

The five per cent tax was introduced in April 2020. However, the tour operators complained to the government about the difficulties they experienced and how they could not collect the tax from NRIs who did not have PAN/Aadhaar cards and could not claim tax refunds.

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News Network
February 5,2025

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Americans have taken to the streets in Washington, D.C., protesting President Donald Trump’s scheme to take "long-term ownership" of the Gaza Strip.

“Gaza Strip is not for sale,” the protesters shouted on the city’s streets on Wednesday.

Speaking at the White House on Tuesday alongside Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump had claimed that the United States would oversee clearing up of destroyed buildings, removing of unexploded ordnance, and “resettling” of Palestinians elsewhere.

"The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too. We’ll own it," he had purported.

‘Deploying American troops to Gaza’

Trump’s announcement came after the Israeli regime failed to realize its objective of forcing Gaza’s entire population to leave for neighboring Egypt, despite taking the coastal sliver under a war of genocide for over 15 months, during which the regime killed way upwards of 61,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

Despite offering few details on how the scheme would be implemented, Trump suggested that displaced Palestinians could be sent to "other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts."

He also left open the possibility of deploying American troops in Gaza, stating, "If it’s necessary, we’ll do that."

‘New Riviera’

Trump predicted the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, home to more than two million Palestinians, could become “the Riviera” of the West Asia as he announced his plan to take control of it.

"The Riviera of the Middle East. This could be something that could be so magnificent," Trump said as he again voiced hopes that Palestinians could be removed from Gaza, and said the United States would redevelop the territory.

‘Recipe for chaos’

The so-called plan, which Trump described as a "long-term ownership position," was met with immediate condemnation from Palestinian groups.

The Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movement Hamas called it a "recipe for chaos and tension in the region" and vowed that "our people in the Gaza Strip will not allow these plans to pass."

The group’s denouncement came amid predictions that the proposal could escalate tensions in the region and spark new waves of resistance across the Palestinian territories and beyond.

Some regional states, including Saudi Arabia, likewise firmly rejected any attempt to displace Palestinians, citing the Palestinian nation’s demand for establishment of their own independent state.

Trump’s comments also drew criticism from various activists and experts. Omar Baddar, a political analyst, slammed the announcement, saying, "He’s essentially declaring the destruction of Palestinian society and the scattering of its people."

American congresswoman Rashida Tlaib called out Trump for "openly calling for ethnic cleansing."

International law experts and human rights organizations have, meanwhile, raised concerns over the legality of Trump's proposal, warning that forced displacement and foreign occupation of Gaza would violate numerous international treaties and conventions.

"This plan disregards the rights of the Palestinian people and sets a dangerous precedent for unilateral land grabs," said Abed Ayoub, executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), a US-based civil rights organization.

Netanyahu, however, praised Trump as "the greatest friend Israel has ever had" and suggested that the scheme could "change history."

The ICC-wanted Israeli official’s trip to the US has already conjured up strong denouncement on the part of various regional and international organizations, figures, and groups over war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Separately, Trump cast doubt on the stability of a ceasefire agreement between the Israeli regime and Hamas that is expected to end the genocide.

"The [Israeli] strikes could start tomorrow. There’s not a lot left to strike," he said amid Tel Aviv’s regular violations of the deal.

He also alleged that the “American-led plan” would lead to the war-wracked Palestinian territory’s “transformation.”

Critics, though, have argued that Trump's proposal could be intended to divert attention from ongoing controversies surrounding his administration, while US Senator Chris Murphy has called it a "reckless distraction from domestic issues."

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Agencies
February 14,2025

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Israel has conducted a fresh drone attack on the Jenin refugee camp, as the Palestinian foreign ministry urges the international community to take a serious action to stop the regime’s intensified aggression on the occupied West Bank.

In the early hours of Friday, media reports said an Israeli drone targeted homes in the Jenin camp in the northern part of the West Bank.

Since a ceasefire in Gaza was announced last month, Israel has intensified its attacks in Jenin and other parts of the occupied West Bank.

At least 25 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s raids in Jenin this year, which have also displaced nearly 20,000, according to the camp’s media committee.

The Israeli army also continues to destroy homes and infrastructure in the West Bank city of Tulkarm and its two camps.

According to the Tulkarm Camp’s Media Committee, nine people have been killed, and about 10,500 others --around 80 percent of its population --  have been displaced since Israeli forces began the assault on the camp.

Video footage showed Israeli bulldozers destroying homes in Tulkarm’s Nour Shams Refugee Camp on Thursday.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said at least 380 people have been detained by Israeli forces since the start of their large-scale military raids in the West Bank after the Gaza ceasefire went into effect on January 19.

The deal between Israel and Hamas was reached after 15 months of the regime's genocidal war on the strip, which claimed the lives of at least 48,239 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 111,676 others.

The regime agreed to the ceasefire after falling short of realizing any of its wartime objectives, including freeing the captives, “eliminating” the Gazan resistance, and causing forced displacement of Gaza’s entire population to neighboring Egypt or Jordan.

The Palestinian Foreign ministry on Thursday urged the international community to take “an urgent and effective action” to force Israel to stop its aggression on the West Bank.

Referring to Israeli crimes in the occupied territories, including the forced displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians from their homes and the destruction of homes and infrastructure, the ministry said the international silence emboldens Israel to commit more crimes and enables it to continue its crime of ethnic cleansing.

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Agencies
February 7,2025

Washington DC: In a big relief for Indian students and professionals living in the United States on visas and awaiting green cards, a federal judge in Seattle has indefinitely blocked President Donald Trump's executive order that seeks to end birthright citizenship. Slamming the order, the court reportedly said Trump is trying to skirt the rule of law to play "policy games" with the Constitution.

US District Judge John Coughenour's preliminary injunction is the second major legal blow to Trump's efforts to alter the US law as part of a broader immigration crackdown after a federal judge in Maryland issued a similar ruling.

"It has become ever-more apparent that to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain," Judge Coughenour said during a hearing on Thursday in Seattle, according to a report by CNN.

"In this courtroom and under my watch, the rule of law is a bright beacon which I intend to follow," Coughenour continued.

The judge noted that the Constitution is not something with which the government can play policy games. "If the government wants to change the exceptional American grant of birthright citizenship, it needs to amend the Constitution itself," he stressed.

The new nationwide preliminary injunction issued in Seattle expands a previous short-term block Coughenour issued against the President's order days after he signed it. It came a day after US District Judge Deborah Boardman in Maryland issued another preliminary injunction against Trump's order on Wednesday.

Both orders apply nationwide and will remain in effect while the case proceeds. The Justice Department said late Thursday it was appealing the Seattle court's order. The appeal of the preliminary injunction will reportedly go to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, a left-leaning appeals court, a move that could eventually land the issue before the US Supreme Court.

How Does Trump's Order Affect Indians In America?

Soon after taking for the second time on January 20, Trump signed an executive order ending birthright citizenship in the United States. The order denies US citizenship to children born on American soil to parents who are not permanent residents of the United States.

The order caused concerns among the Indian community in the US, particularly those living on temporary visas like H-1B (work visas), L (intra-company transfers), H-4 (dependent visas) and F (student visas). As per Trump's order, children born to parents on temporary visas would not get citizenship unless one parent was a US citizen or a green card holder.

Without the right to birthright citizenship, children of these immigrants are at risk of losing access to in-state tuition rates, federal financial aid and scholarships, significantly impacting their educational prospects. The order caused many expectant Indian parents to rush for pre-term deliveries before February 20-- the deadline fixed by Trump's order.

Trump's order also brought anxieties for Immigrants caught in green card backlogs, as their children born outside America could be forced to self-deport upon turning 21 unless they secure another visa.

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