SP traders' wing writes to Jaitley, seeks tax reforms

The Samajwadi Party traders' wing today said that it has written to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley asking to link the Consumer Price Index (CPI) with Income Tax exemption limit while stressing on the need to raise this limit to Rs 5 lakh in the upcoming financial year.
"Income tax exemption limit is provided to ensure the essential needs of a common man. In these times of harsh inflation, exemption limit can be turned into a scientific procedure by proportionally fixing it with consumer index," Samajwadi Party traders' wing President Gopal Agarwal said here.
"Every taxpayer has been demanding simplification of laws so that they can figure out their tax estimates themselves. The current procedure of filing taxes is tough as a person has to avail the services of a chartered accountant or a lawyer," Agarwal said.

Agarwal further demanded the Centre government to frame the guidelines to ensure that retail prices are accordingly reduced whenever the tariffs on excise duty is decreased, in order to counter exploitation of consumers by mill owners.
The letter written to Jaitley also stresses on further easing the availability of assets to small industries by financial agencies along with other reforms related to farmers' crop insurance and exempting startups from Income Tax for a period of three years, he said.