Tax proposals will stay, says Govt

Addressing the post-budge interaction with Assocham, he said, “there is also now a suggestion for rolling back the Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT), which the budget proposes to hike to 18 per cent from the earlier level of 15 per cent. The government cannot entertain such demand,” he said.

As fiscal consolidation and growth would continue to be top priority of the government it cannot ignore the issue of revenue generation, he said.

He explained that hike in excise and customs duties would not fuel inflation in the long run and on the contrary the raise in these two duties would be absorbed because food inflation is mainly on account of supply side constraints.

On MAT, he said the government not only relaxed surcharge on Corporate Tax but also substantially raise Income Tax rebate for common man, the impact of which would be that consumers would have greater purchasing power and would be able to save also.

“Therefore, three per cent raise in MAT should be taken by the industry in right spirits.”