Abolish exemptions

Instead of reducing tax rates, Budget 2023 should take steps to reverse the decline in tax buoyancy

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has begun her annual consultations for finalising what would be her fifth Budget, to be presented on February 1, 2023. This will be a significant exercise for more than one reason.

It would be the first Budget after what appears to be a gradual retreat of the Covid-19 pandemic that had seriously affected Budget-making for the last two years. But more importantly, the Budget for 2023-24 will be prepared against the backdrop of high inflation, unemployment, hardening interest rates and a geo-political crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is adversely impacting not only the crude