In this week's wrapup, we talk about the Income Tax department's new faceless assessment policy, whether we need income tax at all, why Epic Games is suing Apple, Citibank's $900 million blunder, and why new hotels are still opening amidst the pandemic.

But before we get to the wrapup, here's this week's edition of Finshots Markets where we talk about the most infamous private bank of current times-Yes Bank.

Faceless Assessment to the Rescue

On Monday, we talked about something cool happening in India's Income Tax department. Now, the basic tenet of taxation is simple—get more people to pay their taxes honestly. Get them to do it consistently. And be fair while you're at it.

Now the government is always trying to optimise this process. But their latest effort is entirely radical—they are trying to eliminate fear from the equation. Find out how this might play out here.

What if we abolished the Income Tax?

On Tuesday, we talked about the abolition of Income Tax. Yes, that's right. Abolishing Income Tax.

You see, our article on Monday received a rather interesting comment, It went something like this—“Why can’t we just eliminate income tax altogether and compensate it with a higher GST? Shouldn’t this ideally expand the tax base and improve collection overall? Think about the benefit of not having to go through the whole charade of filing your IT returns”

The logic is very compelling. The argument does sound foolproof. But would it work in the real world? Here's what we think.

Fortnite takes on Apple

On Wednesday, we talked about a legal war brewing in Big Tech.

Epic Games, the company behind the hit battle royale game Fortnite is suing Apple, a company with an annual legal budget totalling $1 Billion. Need we say more? Read the full draft here.

Citibank's $900 Million Blunder

On Thursday, we talked about Citibank's accidental mistake that might cost the company rather dearly.

A few days ago, a cosmetics company, Revlon, a hedge fund called Brigade Capital and Citibank were all involved in a dramatic sequence of events that can best be described as comical. Citibank was expected to transfer a few million dollars from Revlon to some of its lenders. Citibank goofed up. Instead of sending the money from Revlon’s account, Citi transferred $900 million to a group of lenders from its own account.

So what happens when you accidentally transfer $900 million to somebody you didn’t mean to? Find out here.

The Endgame for the Hospitality Industry

On Friday, we spoke about hotels.

A couple of days ago, Bloomberg had a rather interesting headline — "Nearly 1,000 New Hotels Are Still Opening During the Pandemic".

That’s right. New hotels are cropping up all over the place. Hilton opened 60 new hotels in the second quarter of 2020. Marriott opened 163 properties this year. Even smaller independent hotels are making their debut amidst the pandemic and this begs the question — Why? Find out here.

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And so another weekly wrapup comes to an end. Have a great weekend!