Mukesh Butani, chairman of BMR Advisors and Ketan Dalal, joint tax leader of PwC in an interview to CNBC-TV18 shared their expectations from the upcoming Union Budget 2012-13.
According to Butani, Pranab Mukherjee will be hesitant to make any statement on goods and service tax (GST) implementation and its roadmap because it then becomes a credibility issue for the government. "GST is not a Budget exercise because unless the constitutional amendment bill is passed, the Finance Minister cannot do anything for GST implementation," he added. Another long pending issue, the Direct Tax Code (DTC) is also unlikely to get implemented this year because the standing committee of the Parliament has recently tabled its report on the DTC, said Dalal. Like many experts, he also expects DTC to be implemented from April 1, 2013 onwards. However, he feels there is a possibility that some provisions of the DTC finding their way into this Budget. Below is the edited transcript of the interview. Also watch the accompanying videos. Q: People are not expecting much this time but do you expect any progress in the Budget on goods and services tax (GST) this time around? Butani: You have to understand that GST is not technically a Budget exercise because there is a constitutional amendment bill already pending with the Parliament. Unless the constitutional amendment bill goes through, the Finance Minister cannot do anything as far as GST implementation is concerned. I also feel that the Finance Minister would be hesitant in making any statement on the GST including roadmap because it becomes a bit of a credibility issue then for the government. The passage of constitutional amendment bill for GST is a prerogative of both the houses of parliament. It is the slim majority of the ruling in the upper house of the parliament, which has been a road block for getting the constitutional amendment bill to pass through. The Finance Minister and his cabinet recognizes that very well. I would be surprised if any statement is made other than saying that the government intends to bring the GST and it is committed to the GST reforms. These statements would be made without any commitment in so far as the timing is concerned because it becomes a bit of a credibility issue for the government at this point in time. Q: The fear is of another postponement on that issue, on both those overarching tax themes which is GST and DTC do you expect any specifics to be announced in the budget this time or do you share MukeshDiscover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
