Expert Reactions On Budget 2018

A slew of measures for the agriculture and rural sectors, a new health insurance scheme for the poor and some relief in income tax for the salaried class and senior citizens, were announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday in the budget before the general elections. He lowered the corporate tax for small, micro and medium enterprises with turnover of up to Rs 250 crore to 25 per cent from current 30 per cent, while reintroducing the tax on long term capital gains of over Rs 1 lakh made from the sale of shares.
 

Expert views from different sectors:

Chiranjiv Patel, Regional Director, Entrepreneurs' Organization, South Asia:


"It is a very well structured and comprehensive budget but on the other side, I feel that even after 70 years of independence, we are still fighting for the basic needs of the common man of India.Corporate tax is reduced to 25% from 30% over the turnover of 250 cr towards fulfilling his promises. This structural changes will help achieve the expected economic growth of 205 trillion and expected to be the 6th largest economy by the end of the year. Overall it's a populist budget pleasing the rural sector, working towards upliftment of basic health and infra facilities but no major tax Relief".

Manoj K Singh, Founding Partner, Singh and Associates: 

"Union Budget 2018-19 might not be able to meet the expectation of all the sectors but for both Infrastructure as well as Health sector it has brought some good news including but not limited to allocation of more funds, new schemes including the inclusion of Health Wellness Centres in CSR activities mandatory to be undertaken by Corporates. For MSME also, there is a relief in tax slab as now for those corporates who have a turnover or gross sales up to Rs 250 crore, the corporate tax rate will be 25%. For those who deal in equity of listed entities, a capital gain tax of 10% has been introduced for sale of equity shares held for more than 1 year which earlier was exempted. A welcome move in employee reforms whereby the female employee can contribute up to 8% as her contribution towards Provident Fund for initial three years instead of existing 12%. Overall one can expect a mixed feeling."

Madhukar Kumar, Founder and Chief Strategist, Grey Cell

"I think the last full budget of the Narendra Modi-led government before the 2019 elections and the 1st budget after GST is a mixed one and may best be called as a course correction. I particularly welcome the idea of decreasing the corporate tax to 25% for domestic companies having turnover up to 250 crores, threshold raised from the earlier 50 crores. This would benefit a large number of small to medium businesses that are critical to Indian economy and growth. This move also takes India to have one of the most attractive corporate tax rates in the world. However, for the common man in this budget is that income tax slabs remain same. There was a strong common expectation of decreased tax rates for individuals. Since most of India comprises of the common man, it remains to be seen how they react to the same."

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