Tax Base

'Need to moderate rate, widen tax base for Viksit Bharat goal by 2047'

There is a need for a shift in the taxation mindset from rates to revenue by moderating tax rates and widening base in order to achieve the goal of 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047, experts said. They underscored the need on transition from rates to revenue focused on lowering tax rates, enlarging the tax-paying base and thereby creating the means for financing of India's investment and development needs. "Conventional higher tax rates haven't resulted in significant tax buoyancy. Recognising this fact, governments in India since 1991 onwards have clearly batted for moderate tax rates leading to greater levels of transparency and compliance," EY India senior partner Sudhir Kapadia said. Time has come to bite the bullet for reforms in direct taxes, he said, adding, there could be one simplified rate structure for businesses and for individuals, there could be one simple three-rate structure with low or moderate rates, no surcharges and cesses and no significant deductions. On GST, he said, a

Tax buoyancy may give headroom for higher social sector budget: Report

The increased tax buoyancy as reflected in both income tax and GST monthly collection data will provide headroom to the government to allocate more funds for farmers and social sector schemes in the forthcoming interim budget, without sacrificing fiscal prudence, sources said. The focus in the interim budget, which will be the last major economic document of the Modi 2.0 Government ahead of the general elections, is likely to be on the issues being faced by poorer sections of the society, especially in rural areas. According to sources, collections from income and corporate taxes have been showing buoyancy in the current fiscal, and the total direct tax mop-up is likely to exceed budget estimates by about Rs 1 lakh crore. The government had budgeted to collect Rs 18.23 lakh crore from direct taxes in this fiscal. Till January 10, the mop-up stood at Rs 14.70 lakh crore, which is 81 per cent of budget estimates. On the Goods and Services Tax (GST) front, Central GST revenues are ...

Budget should focus on job creation, steps to broaden tax base: India Inc

The Budget should focus on measures to accelerate job creation and broaden the tax base by rationalising GST and personal income tax slabs to boost consumption, industry bodies said in their pre-Budget meeting with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday. "The external scenario is likely to continue to be unfavourable for some time. Hence, we must broad-base our domestic economy by creating new sectors of growth and driving employment generation to boost domestic demand, inclusion, and growth," CII president Sanjiv Bajaj said. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) was part of the virtual pre-Budget meeting which was called for an aggressive focus on privatisation of public sector units and increasing allocation to capital expenditure with focus on an investment led growth strategy to pump India's economy amidst the global uncertainty. To boost job creation, CII suggested that an employment linked incentive scheme be introduced and the government could consider an urban ..

Yes, only 15 million Indians pay tax; but who is to blame for this?

It is Mr Modi's govt that has added to the problem, and it can resolve it, only if it has the stomach to ignore the inevitable howls of protest from a very vocal middle class, writes T N Ninan

Budget impact: Infosys, 8 others face 20% tax burden on share buyback

These companies, which are buying back shares, will see costs rising

Tax base widens to 63 mn in FY17, will expand process of e-assessment: CBDT

Challenge before taxmen is to widen tax net and officials are working towards it