Budget 2002 - Wish List

Corporate Tax

Reduction of the corporate tax rate to 30 per cent and increasing the exemption limit for income tax to Rs 60,000, are among the suggestions forwarded by tax experts for budget 2002-03. "Corporate tax rate should be reduced to 30 per cent (with no surcharge) and ultimately to 25 per cent over the next two years. Tax rates for smaller companies with an income up to Rs 1 lakh should be between 10 to 15 per cent," research NGO Surya Foundation has said in its pre-budget memorandum.

Asking for the abolishing of dividend tax, the foundation has suggested that the threshold for the initial rate of personal income tax should be 10 per cent up to Rs 1.5 lakh; 20 per cent up to Rs 5 lakh and 30 per cent thereafter. It has further called for abolishing of the wealth tax.

Did you know?

Finance minister H M Patel, who presented the Janata government's second budget, depended on gold sales from the government stock to reduce the uncovered gap of Rs 1,050 crore in his 1978-79 budget. Patel said it was entirely justifiable to utilise a part of the country's accumulated gold to reduce the expansionary effect of budgetary transactions.

In the only budget he presented, Charan Singh made his anti-industry bias quite clear, which wasn't a surprise. But the following comments from his 1979-80 budget must have come as a big shock to Indian industry: "I have no sympathy with those industries which cater to the wants of the rich." Simultaneously, he reversed the downward trend of peak income tax rates by raising it to 72 per cent from 69 per cent.

My Budget

Keki Mistry

MD, HDFC

My Budget wish is...

Stress on the housing sector should continue in the forthcoming budget

To help my sector grow...

There are a number of anomalies facing the housing finance companies (HFCs), which need to be corrected. The tax benefit given to banks and financial institutions in their provisioning for NPAs is not extended to the HFCs. A level-playing field should be provided, giving the same benefits to the HFCs as well.