'Package for MSMEs in Budget 2019 is welcome move'

By Neelesh Talathi

Union Budget 2019 has pertinently addressed some of the key structural aspects of our economy. The entire package for MSMEs is very welcome, it benefits the bulk of India entrepreneurs. The clarification on angel tax will now iron out a significant impediment to start-up eco-system leading to young entrepreneurs not being consumed in complex tax matters and freeing them to rightly focus on growing their enterprise.

Capital formation is usually an igniting point for a virtuous economic cycle. There is a lot of positive development to welcome foreign capital/investment in our economy. The removal of scrutiny on startup market valuation and the introduction of e-verification for establishing investor identity are commendable. As an e-commerce company, we are pleased to that the Budget furthers on AR, ML, Big Data etc aspects where India should aim to seize global leadership.

It is very heartening to note the positive approach to tax administration. e-Assessments, faceless scrutiny processes, less onerous GST returns for small business, relooking at GST refunds process to make it touch-less all of these taken together will significantly reduce the red-tape and bureaucracy. Put together these initiatives will alter the way we do tax in our country and could potentially further improve the ease of doing business in India.

Overall what makes the Budget commendable is that the Finance Minister has hit a boundary on a poor pitch. This could well have been a maximum (six); however, what we missed is a specific stimulus to fuel demand and cruising further on ‘Digital India’.

The author is CFO at Pepperfry.