The fate of commodity transaction tax (CTT) hangs in the balance as the government has not taken any decision on implementing the new tax announced in last year's Budget.
The status report of implementation of announcements made in the budget 2008-09, which was released by the Finance Ministry yesterday, does not mention anything about CTT.
While presenting the Budget for 2008-09, the then Finance Minister Chidambaram had said: "Transaction in commodity futures have come of age. Hence, I propose to introduce the Commodities Transaction Tax on the same lines as STT on options and futures."
The proposed Commodity Transaction Tax of Rs 17 per business of Rs 1 lakh was approved by the Parliament last year but has yet to be notified.
The announcement evoked sharp reaction from the sector regulator FMC, commodity bourses and brokers, as they felt it would have a negative impact on the nascent commodity market.
Even the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council was not happy with the proposal and had suggested the government should at least lower the rate of CTT from the proposed 0.017 per cent.
