FM Nirmala Sitharaman signals intent to prop up economy in post-Budget interaction

Looking to assuage the concerns of investors and the trading fraternity after presenting the Union Budget last week, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took part in an interactive session with them in Mumbai on February 7.

The topics which came up for discussion included dividend distribution tax,  spending on infrastructure and clamour for removal of LTCG tax.

Among the attendees, Motilal Oswal asked about rationale of implementing new DDT structure.

Under the new structure, DDT will be deducted at individual level and not at company level. The company promoter and high net-worth investor will give around 58 percent tax whereas an MNC has to pay 10 percent tax.

Nilesh Shah, Managing Director, Kotac AMC, said that making financial investments should be made as easy as buying gold.

The tax department feels that DDT should not be there but they are not able to figure out a middle ground.

Sitharaman also fielded questions on the new personal tax regime. She said  that the finance ministry in a study had found that more than 68 percent of taxpayers were not taking any exemptions and 12 percent of taxpayers took exemption but amount was negligible.

DSP Chairman Hemendra Kothari mentioned that LTCG does not attract much tax revenue.

Sitharaman responded to that by saying that they should give it more time as it was implemented in 2018.

Sitharaman took part in three different sessions on February 7.

In the morning session, corporate houses raised the issue of TDS for e-commerce companies set to kick in from April 1 with a association requesting for extension till October. Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey said that the infrastructure is already in place because of GST.