taxes come in various shapes and sizes but primarily fit into two little slots direct tax this is the tax that you i and india inc directly pay to the government for our income and wealth so income tax wealth tax and stt are all direct taxes indirect taxthis ones a double whammy its essentially a tax on our expenditure and includes customs excise and service tax its not just you who thinks this isnt fair governments too consider this tax regressive as it doesnt check whether youre rich or poor you spend you pay thats precisely why most governments aim to raise more through direct taxes making you paythe various taxes that the government levies corporation corporate tax its the tax that india inc pays on its profits taxes on income other than corporation tax its incometax paid by noncorporate assessees people like us fringe benefit tax fbtno free lunches here if you want the jam with the bread and butter youd better pay for it in the 200506 budget the government decided to tax all perks what is calls the fringe benefit given to employees no longer could companies get away with saying ordinary business expenses and escape tax when they actually gave out club memberships to their employees employers have to now pay a tax fbt on a percentage of the expense incurred on such perquisites securities transaction tax stt if youre dealing in shares or mutual funds you have to loosen those purse strings a wee bit too stt is a small tax you need to pay on the total amount you pay or receive in a share deal in the 200405 budget the government did away with the tax on profits earned on the sale of shares held for over a year known as longterm capital gains tax and replaced it with stt customs anything you bring home from across the seas comes with a price by levying a tax on imports the governments firing on two fronts its filling its coffers and protecting indian industry union excise dutymade in india either way theres no escape in other words this is a duty imposed on goods manufactured in the country service taxif you text your friend a hundred times a day or cant do without the coiffeured look at the neighbourhood salon your monthly bill will show up a little charge for the services you use it is a tax on services rendered