 "Budget 2018. Illustration: Ajay Mohanty")
Every year since 2013-14, there has been speculation about doing away of minimum alternate tax (MAT) on special economic zones (SEZs) or giving these free trade zones some sort of relief on this tax in the Budget. However, successive budgets did not provide such a relief to SEZs.
Speculations in the run-up to the Budget for 2018-19 are no exception in this respect. Currently, there are 204 SEZs in the country.
The proposal - to impose MAT at 18.5 per cent on book profits of both SEZ developers and units in these enclaves - was announced in Budget 2011-12 by the
