Excise duty may go up, direct tax code unlikely

Budget session starts today; rail budget on Feb 24, general budget on Feb 26

PTI | February 22, 2010


Budget session gets going today
Budget session gets going today

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will present Budget 2011 on Friday, amid speculation that excise duty may be raised as part of a partial rollback of the stimulus measures.

However, direct tax rates are not likely to be tweaked for the time being as the finance ministry is unlikely to initiate reforms on the direct taxes code now, sources said.

The direct taxes code seeks replace the archaic Income Tax Act. However, the DTC bill is unlikely to come in the budget session, as it is still being debated at various government levels, the sources added. The budget session begins on Monday.

The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council had also pitched for raising of excise duty to the level of service tax and broadening the service tax net. Currently excise duty stands at 8 percent and service tax at 10 percent.

After the Central Statistical Organisation estimated economic growth at 7.2 percent for this fiscal against 6.7 percent a year ago, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Sigh Ahluwalia had also said, "we should say stimulus has succeeded and we should begin to phase it now."

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma had also said those export sectors which moved into a very robust growth level could stand to see stimulus withdrawn.

Comments

 

Other News

Are EVs empowering India`s Green Transition?

Against the backdrop of the $3.5 billion Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme launched by the Government of India, sales of Electric Vehicles (EVs) are expected to grow at a CAGR of 35% by 2032. It is crucial to take into account the fact that 86% of EV sales in India were under the price bracket of $2

When Nandini Satpathy told Biju Patnaik: ‘I’ll sit on the chair you are sitting on’

Nandini Satpathy: The Iron Lady of Orissa By Pallavi Rebbapragada Simon and Schuster India, 321 pages, Rs 765

Elections 2024: 1,351 candidates in fray for Phase 3

As many as 1,351 candidates from 12 states /UTs are contesting elections in Phase 3 of Lok Sabha Elections 2024. The number includes eight contesting candidates for the adjourned poll in 29-Betul (ST) PC of Madhya Pradesh. Additionally, one candidate from Surat PC in Gujarat has been elected unopp

2023-24 net direct tax collections exceed budget estimates by 7.40%

The provisional figures of direct tax collections for the financial year 2023-24 show that net collections are at Rs. 19.58 lakh crore, 17.70% more than Rs. 16.64 lakh crore in 2022-23. The Budget Estimates (BE) for Direct Tax revenue in the Union Budget for FY 2023-24 were fixed at Rs. 18.

‘World’s biggest festival of democracy’ begins

The much-awaited General Elections of 2024, billed as the world’s biggest festival of democracy, began on Friday with Phase 1 of polling in 102 Parliamentary Constituencies (the highest among all seven phases) in 21 States/ UTs and 92 Assembly Constituencies in the State Assembly Elections in Arunach

A sustainability warrior’s heartfelt stories of life’s fleeting moments

Fit In, Stand Out, Walk: Stories from a Pushed Away Hill By Shailini Sheth Amin Notion Press, Rs 399

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter