The government will come out with a draft 'negative list' for service tax in two weeks, meaning services which are not mentioned in it would be taxed under the proposed GST regime.
Budget 2011 doled out quite a few measures both tax and non-tax in order to boost investment in infrastructure sector.
Given the impending revamp of the direct taxes regime in India through the implementation of the draft Direct Taxes Code in 2012, the Union Budget for the year 2011-12 was expected to have relatively few proposals.
Budget 2011 proposes an increased outlay of Rs 520.57 billion on school and higher education.
One of the expectations of the Information Technology (IT) industry from the Budget was the extension of the tax holiday under section 10A for STP units. In addition to this, the IT sector was also expecting some changes on the transfer pricing and dispute resolution front to reduce the ongoing litigation.
The proposals in respect of the energy sector – oil and gas, power and renewables were as anticipated; the roll forward of the income tax holiday for power by a year, denial of tax holiday for the ongoing round of NELP and indirect tax concessions for renewables.
Budget 2011-12 has given a marginal benefit on the tax slab for individuals. However the benefits for very senior citizens are higher. However the expectations that there will be changes in the investment avenues and their slabs have not been met.
India's economy will revert to the pre-crisis growth level of 9% in the next financial year.
OP Bhatt, Chairman of the State Bank of India, in an exclusive interview to CNBC-TV18, says that the bank need to raise capital over medium-long term, however, it will only be post the budget allocations are announced.
The revenue department doesn’t expect many taxation changes in Budget 2011-12, sources from the department inform CNBC-TV18.