Reasonable taxation, ease of doing biz govt’s priority: FM
18 May 2015 6:00 AM IST
Making taxation more reasonable and improving ease of doing business will be among his top priorities going ahead, Finance Minister of India, Arun Jaitley said on Sunday, as he outlined the economic roadmap of the Narendra Modi government for its second year.
The government will also strive to eliminate discretions and maintain the speed of reforms, said Jaitley, also the I&B Minister.
The minister also dismissed <g data-gr-id="52">perception</g> that nothing has moved on the ground on <g data-gr-id="53">policy</g> front in reviving the economy and said that such a view was confined only to a section of critics.
Answering a question about voices from India Inc, complaining that the government was not walking the talk, Jaitley said there was no such “overwhelming perception”.
Some of the reports complaining about the economy not having taken off were “inspired news items referring to a dozen people without naming a single”, he said.
The Minister said that a section of corporates voicing disappointment <g data-gr-id="43">were</g> those who were used to a “system of largesses”.
On taxation, Jaitley said, the effort would be to make it “more reasonable”.
The government, which came to power in May last year, plans to roll out a common GST by April 1, 2015 on indirect taxes, while corporate tax rate would be brought down to 25 per cent from 30 per cent over a period of four years on the direct taxes, he added.
The government also intends to eliminate the exemptions while reducing the rate of corporate tax,
though these would be retained for the individual taxpayers.
“I would keep exemptions but keep that for individual <g data-gr-id="55">tax payers</g> and in the last two years I have strengthened the kind of exemptions,” he said, adding it would help in increasing demand and promoting growth.
Speaking about the challenges before the government, he said: “One, there is a huge road map how
to ease <g data-gr-id="38">your</g> doing business here...I would say (that) is work in progress”.
To help boost private investment and improve execution of projects, the effort would be to replace the practice of giving permissions and push the pending legislations like GST and the land acquisition law, Jaitley said.
A bankruptcy code is also being proposed to help companies exit the projects in case of difficulties, he said.
The Minister also said that the previous UPA government followed an “erroneous road map” and focused on populist <g data-gr-id="49">policies,</g> while it also seemed indecisive and ineffective that eventually hit the credibility of <g data-gr-id="48"><g data-gr-id="47">decision</g> making</g> process.
“We had fallen off global radar and policy decisions were influenced by collateral thinking and if I may use the phrase, which some persons in Congress party use, they abandoned <g data-gr-id="57">liberalisation</g> and went in for cronyism. So whether its was spectrum, coal this is all examples of cronyism,” he said.
On the other hand, there are no “forces outside the government which can influence the governmental thinking” in the current dispensation and the responsibility begins and ends with the government, he said.
Congress leadership lacks ‘legislative literacy’: Jaitley
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday hit back at the Congress for its new-found aggression in Parliament and outside, saying that the party leadership lacks legislative literacy and needs to "directly read" the fine print instead of depending on others. He disagreed with a suggestion that the BJP and the government at the Centre have lost in the battle of perception on the land bill issue, saying Congress has not gained by its "Left of (Karl) Marx" tactics. The Finance Minister also rejected Congress President Sonia Gandhi's allegations of a "generous bonanza" by giving tax cuts to the tune of Rs 2.5 lakh crore to corporates in the next four years. "Unfortunately, the current mood is based on lack of understanding of issues. If you hear some of their speeches which go contrary not only to their own legislation, but which are influenced by the current mood. And I use the phrase to say "which is to the Left of Marx". And something which has become completely anachronism to today's times," he said.
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