Taxes are the levies imposed on persons by Government to rise fund for various Government activity. In India Some taxes like Income tax, Custom Duty, are imposed by Central Government; Some taxes like Professional Tax, Entertainment tax, are imposed by State Government and others by local authorities. All these taxes can be segregated between two categories, ie: Direct Tax & Indirect Tax.
Direct tax: Tax burden can not be shifted to other person. Example: Income Tax, Corporate Tax etc.
Indirect Tax: Tax burden can be shifted to other person. Example: GST, Custom Duty etc.
Surcharge:
In addition to Direct & Indirect Taxes , Surcharge can be also applicable in some cases as tax on tax. Which means the rate of surcharge should be calculated on the tax amount instead of Taxable value.
Cess:
In applicability Cess is similar like Surcharge, but in purpose they both are very different. Where Surcharge are collected by Government to rise revenue for any Government expenditure, Cess are collected to met some specific purpose , like Educational cess for Educational expenditure only; Secondary & Higher Educational cess for Secondary & Higher expenditure only; Krishi Kalyan cess for Agricultural purpose only and so on.
In below hierarchy some of the main taxes (Not all taxes) are categorised.
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