Abolish wealth tax on gold, silver jewels: Religare Broking

Commodity prices typically impact a significant portion of the import bill of most countries. India too imports several commodities and while we have no control on the international prices per se, we can and do use man-made taxes to calibrate consumption within our country.

For example, the government recently decided to change the duty structure of bullion which effectively doubled the previous charges. This step will secure additional revenue for the exchequer but it will presumably also dampen demand and actually bring down the import bill. Bullion imports total about 10% of our total imports and could affect the value of the rupee vis-