What do Facebook, Google and Snapchat have in common, apart from being some of the most powerful companies in the world? Unequal voting rights! Yes, at a time when the blue-eyed boy of the Indian startup ecosystem, Ritesh Agarwal of Oyo Rooms, had to devise a leverage-backed buyback in his unicorn to maintain shareholding befitting his founder status, world over, the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Page have had their voting rights safely secured, regardless of dilutions to their equity stakes through series and series of equity fundraising.

Publication : Financial Express

Date : August 26, 2019

Never has a tax displayed the flagrant disconnect between the bureaucracy and business like the angel tax does. In the measures to boost the Indian economy announced by the finance minister last week, angel tax found an explicit mention, causing entrepreneurs to rejoice that this ordeal is over. But the devil lies in the details, and the angel tax isn’t dead—it is simply deferred.Angel tax, or section 56(2)(viib) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, was an insertion by the UPA regime in 2012 as a means of checking the circulation of unaccounted funds through investments into private companies. It sought to attack “high share premium”—a supposed smoking gun of money laundering;

Publication : Financial Express

Date: August 26, 2019

About 12 years ago, more than half of the people in this country couldn’t have relied so much on e-commerce giants that are now ruling the Indian market. Even though a number of e-commerce players existed in the market, but the notion of purchasing not just rare items but household products, groceries, kitchen items and the likes didn’t seem much of a preferential idea to the consumers.Back then, most of the middle-income groups still preferred to visit the market and a lot many people considered online shopping to be confusing and unreliable.

Publication : ET Brand Equity

Date : August 25, 2019

Thank God it’s Friday—-that was the sentiment among investors and startup founders on Friday, after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that section 56(2)(viib) of the Income Tax Act will not be applicable to startups registered with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). The said section of the Income Tax Act dealt with angel tax, which is the income tax payable on capital raised by unlisted companies. It created a lot of heartburn in the startup community, and for good reason: angel tax was being levied at a rate of 30.9%.

Publication : Fortune India 

Date : August 24, 2019

Ingenico Group, has tied up with IKEA India to enable digital payments for its e-commerce platform. The leading multi-channel home furnishings retailer will be powered by Ingenico’s payment gateway to streamline its multi-mode online and mobile payments. Henrik Tuner, Head of Multichannel, IKEA India said, “We are excited to present our vast range of products to the Indian consumers through our e-commerce platform. Through this platform we will continue to provide well designed and functional home furnishing solutions to the consumers, which is yet another step to our long term commitment to the Indian market.

Publication : The Economic Times

Date : August 23, 2019

The government on Friday announced several decisions to ease doing business in India, including scrapping the ‘angel tax’ for registered startups, expediting GST refunds for the MSME sector, as well as setting a time-bound window for the payment of delayed dues by public sector companies. “In order to mitigate genuine difficulties of startups and their investors, it has been decided that the relevant provisions of Section 56 of the Income Tax Act, which is commonly called the ‘angel tax’, shall not be applicable to a startup registered with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while addressing a press conference to announce the decisions.

Publication : The Hindu 

Date: August 23, 2019