1. 

   Budget 2016: Ahead of the Union Budget 2016, to be presented by FM Arun Jaitley on 29th February, Snapdeal and PwC have released a joint first-of-its-kind whitepaper titled ‘Rethinking section 79 of the Income-tax Act for a digital economy’. The whitepaper examines changes required to keep pace with rapidly evolving digital businesses and venture capital funded startups. The report recommends relaxation of restriction on carry forward and set off of tax losses under section 79 of Income Tax Act to reduce risk for promoters and investors in investor funded digital businesses. (Image Source: Reuters)

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   Budget 2016: Kunal Bahl, Co-founder and CEO, Snapdeal said, “India is the world’s fastest growing digital commerce market in the world with a 60% growth year on year. The impact of global technology trends and fast evolving consumer behaviour means rapid introduction of new business practices. It is imperative that regulation, policy and business evolve in sync and recalibrate often so that the rules of engagement are mutually clear, contemporary and relevant. The responsibility of this lies both with the government and the industry." (Image Source: Reuters)

3. 

   Budget 2016: This report covers an important issue facing startups and digital businesses around section 79 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 wherein they are unable to carry forward and set off the business losses that they typically incur in the initial years of their operations, because of the dilution of the original promoter shareholding beyond 49%, to other investors/VCs/PE players. The paper makes the case that with dynamic infusion of funds in modern start-ups, the shareholding patterns change often. In light of the rigours of this section certain key recommendations have been made.

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   Budget 2016: India’s digital economy is disrupting the current business landscape, given that the number of Internet users in India is expected to cross 790 million by 2020. Also, more than 80% of these users will get online through mobile phones. With improvements in network infrastructure, significant investor interest and foreign funding, India has emerged as one of the fastest growing bases of start-ups worldwide. Driven by the progressive technology-centric initiatives launched by the government last year—viz. ‘Digital India’ and ‘Start Up India’—one can expect that for sectors like eCommerce, Internet businesses, Fintech, etc., the best is yet to come.

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   Sandeep Ladda, Partner and Leader – Technology and eCommerce, PwC India said, "We're delighted to be able to combine Snapdeal's unparalleled industry knowledge and experience of dealing with several policy and regulatory challenges, with PwC's tax and regulatory expertise, having advised regulators, governments, and corporations, on the technical and practical aspects of developing and implementing tax, policy and regulatory initiatives. The communiqué attempts to present a picture of the real-time issues facing the industry and suggestions on how to tackle them in an effective manner.”