Arun Jaitley clues lower taxes ahead of Union Budget

On Monday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley suggested that India needs lower taxes to be globally competitive. Arun Jaitley said that apart from low taxes, there will be no taxes levied upon long-term gains for businesses.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley hinted lower taxes to make India globally competitive.

Arun Jaitley said, “What you need is a lower level of taxation, to provide services more competitive in nature. Competition is not domestic, it is global. This is one important change you will witness while you will be in service.” Jaitley also added, “Payment of legitimate taxes is part of a citizen’s duty, and non-payment is visited with severe consequences. We’ve lived through last seven decades in India under the impression that if avoidance could be done of government revenue, there wasn’t anything immoral. That was considered to be commercial smartness. Some people were visited with very serious consequences.”

The Finance Minister while addressing the officers at the inauguration of professional training of 68th batch of Internal Revenue Service officers at National Academy of Customs Excise and Narcotics in Faridabad made this statement. He further added, “The India that we foresee in next future decades will be an India where voluntary compliances will have to increase.”

The Union Budget by the Finance Ministry is expected to be submitted on February 1, 2017.