“The Government’s endeavour is to create a simplified tax structure whilst phasing out deductions and exemptions. The Budget Taxation initiatives such as faceless e-assessment are aimed at moving towards a more digitised and business friendly regime” said  Mr Pramod Chandra Mody, Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Ministry of Finance. Mr Mody was addressing the industry at the Union Budget 2020-21: Interactive Session with Ministry of Finance, organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
 
Mr Mody highlighted that the e-appeals system, further to the earlier e-assessment scheme, has been introduced to increase transparency and uniformity in the tax system. He said that the Vivad se Vishwas Scheme proposed in the Union Budget will prove to be beneficial to the Government as well as the Industry.
 
Dr John Joseph, Member (Tax Policy), Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, Ministry of Finance highlighted the dynamic reform measures announced in the Budget to enhance India’s export competitiveness such as raising the import duty on crucial products, crowd sourcing of notifications, and strengthening provisions related to safeguard duties.
 
Dr Joseph mentioned that the Budget 2020-21 was a step forward in making the GST laws stronger for the industry with measures such as simplified return filing system. He further elucidated the key trade facilitation initiatives undertaken to boost exports such as the Authorised Economic Operator Programme, SWIFT, DPD, among others.
 
Dr Joseph stressed that a strong industry government partnership is the key to ensuring that India is on a higher growth trajectory in terms of economic development.
 
Mr Rajiv Memani, Chairman, CII National Committee on Taxation lauded the Government for creating one of the most robust taxation regimes in the country by removing DDT, lowering corporate tax rates and abolishing MAT. He mentioned that initiatives such as Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme and introduction of e-appeals have greatly enthused the business sentiment.

He urged that the inadvertent impact of new dividend structure on REITs and InviTs should be reviewed as they are a significant source of foreign investments in real estate and infrastructure sector. Further, the impact of dividend tax in the hands of shareholders should be in line with international norms of taxing them at a rate lower than the normal rate, as profits distributed as dividends have already suffered tax.

5 February 2020
New Delhi