Skip to main content

Direct tax incentives likely in Budget

By
Measures may include taxs lab & rate revisions for individuals,companies
To soften the “pain” of demonetisation,the central government might announce a number of direct taxs ops for individuals as well as the corporate sector in the Union Budget for 2017-18,which is likely to be presented on February 1— earlier than usual.
The Budget might have revisions of the taxs labs,reductions in the corporate tax rate,and more tax exemptions or  rebates in certain cases.While a clearer picture is emerging,nothing is likely to befinalised till mid-January.
Policy makers have stated—publicly and off there cord—that the Prime Minister’s Office and Union finance ministry are working on certain “populist” measures on taxes.This would fit in with the now expected “feel-good” Budget.
Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal had told Business Standard earlier that there was scope for reduction in direct taxes in the Budget.“There is a likelihood of reduction indirect taxes next financial year. That will be a part of ‘ease of doing business’.This will be deliberated on inpre Budget consultations.” An official a ware of the pre-Budget deliberations said,“We are still in the process of finalising the Budget. However,there is room for direct tax sops.Any potential loss in revenue could be offset with the expected proceeds of the new income-disclosure scheme.” The latest disclosure scheme, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, allows those depositing money in the oldseries Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notestoen joy immunity from certain taxation laws by paying a 50 percent tax on the undisclosed income.However,they would have to deposit a fourth of the undisclosed income for a four -year lock -in.
Another government official said the Centre could look at reduction in the corporate tax rate of up to two percentage points from 30 per cent in the next financial year.
“While it is too early to talk about direct tax reduction, there will be discussions on the feasibility of relooking at the tax slabs. Corporate tax will definitely see an across-the-board cut this time of up to two per cent,” said the official.
For general taxpayers, the current income tax exemption ceiling is ~2.5 lakh per annum. Salaries from this limit to ~5 lakh per annum attract 10 per cent tax; up to ~10 lakh attract 20 per cent tax; and above ~10 lakh attract 30 per cent tax. Budget-makers are looking at tweaking tax rates as well as slabs.
Part-B of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s Budget speech, which presents taxation proposals, might only have announcements related to direct tax and customs announcements as indirect tax measures under the goods and services tax (GST) will be decided by the GST Council.
Of course, all this hinges upon GST being rolled out by April 1, which seems unlikely with the Centre and states being unable to reach a consensus in the council meeting on Saturday. The council is going to meet again on December 11 and 12 and try to break the deadlock.
Experts, too, are expecting a revision in tax slabs and rates. “I am expecting something positive on the tax front in the Budget to compensate people for the hurt caused by demonetisation. Fear and tax uncertainty seem to be back on the table. The government may increase some tax slabs to compensate people or come out with some incentives to save taxes. It might do to couple that with stricter and stringent enforcement provisions for non-compliance,” said Neeru Ahuja, partner, global business tax, Deloitte.
In the 2015-16 Budget, Jaitley had promised a reduction in corporate tax rates to 25 per cent by 2019. Towards that, the government has laid down a road map to simultaneously phase out exemptions given to the corporate sector to reduce the tax rate, simplify administration and improve India’s competitive edge globally.
While corporate tax is 30 per cent, the effective rate of taxation is close to 23 per cent on account of a large number of exemptions. The revenue forgone in 2012-13 on account of tax deduction stood at ~68,000 crore. In the next financial year, the corporate rate might hover around 28 per cent after the corporate tax cut. With this, the government is looking at aligning Indian taxation levels to global standards.
Confederation of Indian Industry President Naushad Forbes said corporate tax should be reduced to 18 per cent by withdrawing exemptions of all sorts.
“There is no need to have exemptions. In 2014-15, as per our calculations, the effective tax rate for corporate was 19.4 per cent after all exemptions. So basically, we have pitched for a reduction to 18 per cent in the Budget,” he said. Forbes added it would make the tax structure much simpler. “The intention is to go for a complete exemption-free system right away and make it more attractive for foreign investors.” In the past Budget, the corporate tax rate for companies with a turnover of ~5 crore or less was lowered to 29 per cent, plus surcharge and cess, from 30 per cent, plus surcharge and cess. Besides, a lower corporate tax rate of 25 per cent was also announced for all new manufacturing companies incorporated from March 1, 2016, given that they do not claim any exemptions. The revenue forgone in 2015-16 on account of exemptions stood at ~62,000 crore.
Business Standard New Delhi,05th December 2016

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Household debt up, but India still lags emerging-market economies: RBI

By
  Although household debt in India is rising, driven by increased borrowing from the financial sector, it remains lower than in other emerging-market economies (EMEs), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its Financial Stability Report. It added that non-housing retail loans, largely taken for consumption, accounted for 55 per cent of total household debt.As of December 2024, India’s household debt-to-gross domestic product ratio stood at 41.9 per cent. “...Non-housing retail loans, which are mostly used for consumption purposes, formed 54.9 per cent of total household debt as of March 2025 and 25.7 per cent of disposable income as of March 2024. Moreover, the share of these loans has been growing consistently over the years, and their growth has outpaced that of both housing loans and agriculture and business loans,” the RBI said in its report.Housing loans, by contrast, made up 29 per cent of household debt, and their growth has remained steady. However, disaggregated data sho...
Post a Comment
Read more

External spillovers likely to hit India's financial system: RBI report

By
  While India’s growth remains insulated from global headwinds mainly due to buoyant domestic demand, the domestic financial system could, however, be impacted by external spillovers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its half yearly Financial Stability Report published on Monday.Furthermore, the rising global trade disputes and intensifying geopolitical hostilities could negatively impact the domestic growth outlook and reduce the demand for bank credit, which has decelerated sharply. “Moreover, it could also lead to increased risk aversion among investors and further corrections in domestic equity markets, which despite the recent correction, remain at the high end of their historical range,” the report said.It noted that there is some build-up of stress, primarily in financial markets, on account of global spillovers, which is reflected in the marginal rise in the financial system stress indicator, an indicator of the stress level in the financial system, compared to its p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Retail inflation cools to a six-year low of 2.82% in May on moderating food prices

By
  New Delhi: Retail inflation in India cooled to its lowest level in over six years in May, helped by a sharp moderation in food prices, according to provisional government data released Thursday.Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation eased to 2.82% year-on-year, down from 3.16% in April and 4.8% in May last year, data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) showed. This marks the fourth consecutive month of sub-4% inflation, the longest such streak in at least five years.The data comes just days after the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee cut the repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.5%, its third straight cut and a cumulative reduction of 100 basis points since the easing cycle began in February. The move signals a possible pivot from inflation control to supporting growth.Food inflation came in at just 0.99% in May, down from 1.78% in April and a sharp decline from 8.69% a year ago.A Mint poll of 15 economists had projected CPI ...
Post a Comment
Read more