Govt mulls new taxes in Budget to boost revenue: Sources

The government has started working on several proposals for Budget-2013 and at a time when it is facing grave challenges due to burgeoning fiscal deficit, increasing revenue generation has become one of the key focus initiatives. CNBC-TV18's Aakansha Sethi, quoting sources, reports that the government may come up with new taxes to generate more revenues.

Also Read: Widening of taxes, enactment of GST Bill likely: KPMG
For FY14, the government is faced with the herculean task of bridging a fiscal deficit of 4.8 percent and maintaining GDP growth at 6 percent in the previous Budget before the general elections in 2014. With limited increase in taxes and limited contraction in expenditure, the finance ministry is contemplating the introduction of new taxes. Also Read:  Budget to simplify tax code, widen net & boost GDP: Ranade
However with Budget discussions at a very nascent stage, it is unclear if the initiative to increase taxes will take shape will be known only in February when the Budget proposals are finalised.
But there are a few segments on which taxes could be levied such as the tax on inheritance which was mentioned by finance minister P Chidambaram a month ago to increase intergenerational equity.
Another is the duty on estate which was abolished in 1985. There is also the need to establish a new slab for income tax for about 1,50,000 crore people who have an income above Rs 50 lakh, by increasing  the 30-percent peak rate
The Direct Tax Code has also suggested a widening of the wealth tax. There is also a proposal to widen the service tax and prune the negative tax list as suggested by the Vijay Kelkar Report which recommended  the inclusion of infrastructure in the service tax net.