The falling oil prices should be taken advantage to bridge the global competitiveness gap and pump-prime the economy for spurt in domestic consumption and investment.
“This budget is going to be an important statement of policy and implementation, as well as the direction by the government. As we face a difficult global environment, this budget should ensure that global competitiveness is supported,” Advaiya Chief Executive Officer Manish Godha said in a statement.
The company looks forward to simplification and rationalisation of taxes and their administration. Indications towards a rule postulating ‘one tax on one transaction’ were given.
“We expect bold steps in direction of reduction of tax on business as was promised last year. At the same time, further steps to reduce unnecessary scrutiny and litigation need to be taken. As GST is still a bit far, some advantages can be gained by harmonizing and unifying, to some extent, excise, service tax and central sales taxes,” he said.
Apart from taxes, the company wants infrastructure investments to be a priority in the upcoming budget so as to provide sustained growth advantage to the economy.
“Effective governance measures to ensure efficacy of spend in various schemes like Smart Cities, etc., have to be established so that returns on infrastructure investment can be reaped for many years providing sustained growth advantage to the economy,” he said.
Technology is a big factor, thus the company senses a need to mandate use of effective technology tools for program monitoring, investment decision making, project management and quality management, by support of investment to bolster connectivity and communication reliability.
The company believes that benefits to salary earners with revival of standard deduction, and further tax advantage on spend on education, skill building, or for working in small businesses or start-ups, would go a long way in spurring consumption as well as intent growth building behaviour.
Attracting talent for start-ups and small business has always been a challenge, and tax concessions for such employees would be a step towards creating a level playing field for smaller businesses, and also offset, to an extent, the risks and uncertainties of working in a start-up or small businesses for talented professionals.