“Expand PLIs to labour-intensive sectors, such as apparel, toys, footwear for boosting employment generation, and to sectors with large imports but domestic capability, like capital goods, chemicals, to reduce import dependence,” the CII said, while also asking for an extension of the sunset clause under concessional tax system by another year. It recommended that the government set up a Ministry of Investment to facilitate private investments.
Ficci sought a five-year extension to the concessional tax of 15% for new domestic manufacturing units to ensure stability and avoid uncertainty – the tax rate is applicable to such units set up on or after October 1, 2019. It also demanded the same concessional tax rate for R&D facilities. The industry bodies suggested simplifying the tax structure, especially rationalising the goods and services tax and tax deducted at source regimes, to ease the compliance burden. “It is suggested that there be only three rate structures for TDS payments – TDS on salary at slab rate and two standard rates for TDS for different categories,” Ficci said. The CII demanded that the government signal a three-tier system for GST as well.
The CII also emphasised balancing economic growth with fiscal consolidation.Both Ficci and CII suggested simplification of regulations to support micro, small and medium enterprises.
Ficci suggested that the government revise the qualifying criterion for registration on TReDS platform to access cheap capital, and relaxation of bad-loan classification rules for MSMEs.The CII suggested giving benefits to MSMEs for improving labour force participation, green adoption and trade facilitation. Both industry bodies suggested the promotion of an alternative dispute system to resolve tax disputes.
