There could not have been a better Union budget than what was presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley because he “punished” the rich and rescued the middle class through changes in direct taxes, G. Sekar, national council member, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), said on Monday.
“It was not a pro-rich budget as is being perceived in some quarters. By levying additional surcharge on the rich, we are going to collect Rs. 9,000 crore more as taxes from the wealthy,” he said.
Speaking at a meeting organised by the Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry on ‘A look at the budget 2015-16’ here, Mr. Sekar said the Modi government took the right decision by abolishing wealth tax and introducing additional surcharge.
“In India, there are only 3.54 crore persons paying income tax of whom only 42,000 are showing income above Rs. 1 crore per annum. So, there is a huge potential to be tapped through new measures for collecting more tax,” he added. He justified Mr. Jaitley’s decision to scrap wealth tax because the collection is less than Rs. 1,000 crore per year whereas the administrative charges are about 45 per cent of the revenue.
He said senior citizens got due attention since those who are taking care of them are eligible for tax deductions and the same is the case with physically challenged people.
T.R. Srinivasan, chartered accountant, spoke on the changes in indirect taxes and their implications.
N. Jegatheesan, chamber president, said the budget came with a long-term vision for economic growth.
S. Rethinavelu, senior president, and other office-bearers had a discussion with the tax experts on how the budget would impact trade and industry.
