100 pc tax exemption for donations to 'Swachh Bharat', 'Namami Gange'

Doing his bit to encourage contributions to “Swachh Bharat” and “Namami Gange” – two pet projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed to provide complete tax exemption for all donations to the exclusive funds created to finance the two Clean India drives.

In his Budget 2015-16, Jaitley, however, sought to bar contributions under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by business houses from the tax exemption.

“Cleanliness of households and clean environment are very important social causes. The fourth pillar of my taxation proposals this year, therefore, relates to initiatives for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan,” Jaitley said in his Budget speech in the Lok Sabha on Saturday.

“In my direct tax proposals,” he added, “I have proposed 100 per cent deduction (under section 80G of the Income-tax Act) for contributions, other than by way of CSR contributions (in accordance with section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013), to the Swachh Bharat Kosh. A similar tax treatment is also proposed for the Clean Ganga Fund.”

The “Swachh Bharat Kosh” is a fund maintained by the Ministry of Finance to seek contributions to support the “Clean India” campaign the prime minister launched on October 2 last.

The Ministry of Water Resource, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation maintains the “Clean Ganga Fund” to seek donations for the “Namami Gange” – another project believed to be close to the heart of Modi.

Jaitley also proposed to raise clean energy cess from Rs 100 to Rs 200 per metric tonne of coal, lignite and peat to finance clean environment initiatives. Besides, he proposed to increase excise duty on sacks and bags of polymers of ethylene for other than industrial use, from 12 to 15 per cent.

He also proposed to have an enabling provision in the Finance Bill to levy Swachh Bharat cess at a rate of 2 per cent or less “on all or certain services” in case need for more funds to finance the campaign arises.
DH News Service