Crypto sans capital gains
Donald Trump just dropped a bombshell that had crypto circles buzzing — no more capital gains taxes on Bitcoin! Yes, you heard it right. Trump thinks it’s unfair to tax your coffee purchase because its value in Bitcoin surged overnight. His plan? Scrap the taxes for US-linked cryptos. “Chinese tokens? Get them out of here!” he declared.
But here’s the twist — he’s also floating the idea of replacing income taxes with tariffs, channelling some serious 1890s’ vibes. Critics say it’s a pipe dream; economists think the math doesn’t add up.
So, is Trump’s plan a crypto renaissance or a fiscal fantasy? Either way, Bitcoiners are raising their mugs to what could be a game-changing move in the digital world.
Save before spending
During her recent interaction with the Citizens Council of Mangaluru, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman got a question from an unexpected quarter. A 5th standard boy from a local school asked: “What is the one powerful money lesson that you think every student should learn?” Impressed by this question, she invited him to the stage and enquired about his parents’ professions. When asked whether his parents work in a bank or government treasury department, the boy replied his father is a businessman and mother a homemaker. Sitharaman’s advice to the student was: “Let your first expenditure be savings. Before you want to buy something, put something in savings.” Urging children to handle money with responsibility, she also cautioned parents to be more careful when allowing their kids to use digital transaction tools.
An actor’s remuneration
A key difference between salaried employees and professionals is their earnings. While it is easy to access how much salaried employees earns, it is tough to know how much actors earn till they declare their income tax returns. At a recent media event, actors Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn were asked on their fees. “Actors charge according to the script, film, and project. And most of us are right now charging according to the recovery of the film,” said Devgn.
Agreeing, Kumar said, “So that is what it is. We both are producers as well. So, we produce our films or if we sign some people’s film, we don’t charge anything. We take a kind of stake ... so the film will not flop. If the film does well, we get a good amount, and if the film doesn’t do well, we get a small amount. So it is a win-win situation for all.”
Devgn was quick to add, “Sometimes there is no amount also. Most of the time producing yourself and making an elaborate film you have to let go of the price...” A proper business indeed!
Tailpiece
Onion price rise was a matter of discussion across some Ministries recently.
At one of the Ministries, there were discussions on whether the media would start reporting on onion price shortages first or the supply trains would arrive before that. Thankfully, the trains arrived before reporting started.