Direct Tax Code - Need to eliminate deeming fiction in new code - avoids differing interpretations of provisions - MS Vasan
Income Tax - investors & corporates value quick resolution of disputes - Vishweshwar Mudigonda, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP
Direct Tax Code - virtues of present Act are kept intact + new insights have been incorporated - provisions have been made easier to understand & interpret - Mukesh Patel, Advocate
Income Tax - Resistant to change lies in the mind - if the GST regime with all its complexities can be rolled out successfully, the Income Tax Code can be similarly implemented - Neeru Ahuja, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP
Income Tax - Direct Tax Code - voluminous Tax Code a direct challenge to Ease of Doing Business - Indira Anand, Tax Head, Tata Sons
Income Tax - scrap non obstante provisions - law must be easy to interpret for a layman - provisions in new code must be independent and self contained - MS Vasan, Senior VP, Hinduja Global Solutions
Income Tax - assessees need tax certainty - Direct Taxes must also serve social & economic purposes - need to incorporate international best practices - Rajat Bansal, Principal CCIT, New Delhi
Customs must also be geared to tax intangible goods similarly to tangible goods - amendments to Acts need to be made - Taxation of services - Govt must amend Customs Act to this end - RK Singh (Member Technical, CESTAT (Retd.))
E-commerce platforms monetise huge amount of data - Govt has legitimate right to levy GST thereon under reverse charge mechanism - can be done unilaterally or in synergy with other Governments - RK Singh
Digital Economy - need to tax C2C transactions - RK Singh
Royalty - levy depends on use of the copyrighted content, not on purchase of it per se - Kamlesh Varshney, JS, CBDT
E-commerce - India was instrumental in promoting automatic exchange of information in international taxation - Need to check AIS constantly to check and prevent wrong claiming of benefits - Kamlesh Varshney, JS CBDT
Digital Economy - E-commerce - Digital sales - more tax revenue flows for Govt - small sellers growing, can focus on artisanal goods - however e-commerce is only 5% of retail sales - huge enabler for MSMEs - Pramod Jain (Senior VP, Flipkart) Digital Economy - data is the new oil, provided it carries value - Govt Departments very progressive in harnessing new technology - Saurabh Sancheti (CFO, Jio Digital Platforms)
E-commerce - Tax authorities see it as cash cow - large quantity of data - heavy compliance burden imposed - Pramod Jain (Senior VP, Flipkart) Digital Economy - physical presence no longer important - demand, supply and other operations happens remotely - revenue also comes from different networks - profoundly affects levy of tax thereon - RK Singh (Member (Technical), CESTAT (Retd))
Digital Economy - difficult to distinguish from National economy - RK Singh (Member (Technical), CESTAT (Retd.))
Income Tax - equity, fairness and justice have vital role to play in implementing tax systems - taxation is a means to an end and not an end itself - tax authorities must implement citizens charter in letter and spirit - citizens must be honest while paying taxes - Manmohan, J (High Court of Delhi) Income Tax - Govt deploying AI for hearing and assessment of appeals - Executive must ensure sufficient manpower and infrastructure for handling vast amount of information - Manmohan, J
Income Tax - base erosion and profit shifting - small countries with lower tax rates have huge investments - India loses billions of dollars USD due to corporate tax planning - Manmohan. J Income Tax - difficulty to decide where income accrues or arises in India - due to creation of deeming fiction - often leads to double taxation Manmohan. J (High Court of Delhi)
GST - Must resolve to move to an exemption-free system - aim for unified and streamlined direct and indirect tax system by 2047 - Dr Bibek Debroy GST - Tax filers increased considerably, but all do not pay tax - need to revaluate tax exemptions - exemptions complicate tax system and structure - lead to tax avoidance - Dr Bibek Debroy
GST - Be willing to pay high taxes or be willing to settle for reduced delivery of services - exemptions eat away 5-5.5% of tax revenue - Dr Bibek Debroy GST - Need a single rate + scrap most exemptions - Dr Bibek Debroy GST - Revenue prediction was based on premise of all goods and services being part of GST + single GST rate - Dr Bibek Debroy
TIOL Tax Congress 2022 - Citizens expect public goods and services to be delivered and subsidised - Fiscal devolution at both Central & State level very important - Taxes primary source of revenue & are building blocks for infrastructure, education, defence - Dr Bibek Debroy |