Private Client Practice: Some Recent Legal Developments

2019 has thus far been an eventful year for private clients. We have had a General Election accompanied by two Budgets, and the introduction of some important legal provisions through money bills and otherwise. We have briefly discussed below some of the key proposals from the latest Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019, which received Presidential assent on August 1, 2019 ('Finance Act'), along with a snapshot of certain other important developments for private clients this year.

1. FINANCE ACT

1.1. Surcharge on HNIs: A surcharge is a tax that is levied in addition to the specified base rates of tax. Individuals are currently subject to a 10% surcharge if their total income is between INR 50,00,000 (approx. USD 70,000) to INR 1,00,00,000 (approx. USD 140,000) (with marginal relief), or a 15% surcharge if their total income is above INR 1,00,00,000 (with marginal relief). The Finance Act has increased the surcharge from 15% to 25% where the individual's total income is