New Delhi, Nov 21,2021: As Centre gears up to start consultation with industry for Union Budget, industry body PHDCCI has proposed to keep personal income tax, corporate tax and peak GST rate all at 15% in order to boost demand and investment in the country.
Speaking to UNI, PHDCCI President Pradeep Multani said that personal income tax should be cut to 15% from the peak rate of 35% now in order to increase disposable income of the people which would lead to push demand curve.
“As regards corporate tax, our view is that whether it is proprietorship, LLPs (limited liability partnerships) and corporates, whether old or new, there should be one uniform corporate tax of 15% across the board,” Multani said.
Offering mega concession to the industry, the central government had in September 2019 slashed corporate tax rates to 22% for domestic companies and 15% for new domestic manufacturing companies besides other fiscal reliefs. The total annual revenue foregone for the reduction in corporate tax rate and other relief were estimated at Rs 1,45,000 crore.
PHDCCI Chief said that personal income tax is currently very high in the country because the base is low which means fewer people are paying taxes.
“It is higher than almost all the advanced and emerging economies. But still our tax-to-GDP ratio is only 17%. In peer economies like China, Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia the average tax-to-GDP ratio is 22%,” he said attributing the low tax-GDP ratio in India to tax evasion.
“The tax evasion is high because of higher tax rates,” he noted.
Multani further said that the peak GST rate should not be more than 15% as the current highest slab of 28% tempts people to evade tax.
“If someone is buying a product worth Rs 100,000 and the peak GST rate of 28% is levied, then Rs 28,000 would be tax on that. If tax rate is so high, people would tend to evade tax,” he said.
In order to attract foreign investment and encourage domestic players to ramp up their businesses, Multani suggested effective implementation of single-window clearance and reduction in cost of doing business.
He proposed to the government to get an analysis carried out by experts on cost structure in China and provide a level-playing field to the Indian industry.
“Let government do the analysis of China. We don’t need even 0.1% extra. What we are saying that the incentives China is giving to its industry we should also get the same cost,” the PHDCCI Chief said.
New York [US], November 19,2021: Emphasising that the new financial and payment technologies methods including cryptocurrencies and digital crowdsourcing are enabling terror groups for collecting and transferring funds, India at UN on Thursday (local time) urged member states to strengthen counter-financing structures at par with international standards to curb terrorism.
Speaking at UNSC special joint meeting, Rajesh Parihar, First Secretary, India’s Permanent Mission to UN said: “Misuse of blockchain technology, virtual/cryptocurrencies, digital crowdsourcing, prepaid phone cards etc have posed new risks to Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) efforts. The proliferation of fake charities and fake non-profit organisations (NPOs) during the COVID pandemic has further exacerbated this risk.”
“An effective multilateral approach to CFT, built on PPP to identify and mitigate new terror-financing risks, strengthening support to financial watchdogs such as FATF to ensure that member states bring their counter-financing structures at par with international standards are needs of the hour today,” Parihar added.
The United Nations Security Council meeting was on Terrorist Financing Threats and Trends and the Implementation of Security Council Resolution 2462.
India also asked the international community to call out the States who wilfully provide financial assistance, safe havens to terrorists and hold them accountable.
“India is committed to support and strengthen UN efforts to assist member states lacking Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) capacities by providing financial support,” he said.
“Continuous expansion of terrorist groups is a reality check for all of us that despite Security Council resolution 2462 to counter the financing of terrorism (CFT), its implementation by the member states remains challenging for reasons including the lack of political will,” he added.
Speaking further, he said: “The global implementation survey of resolution 1373, adopted by the CTC on November 4 and FATF’s latest report (October 2021) on “Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring”, highlights the continued terror-finance risk due to lack of action by a country in our neighbourhood.”
Underlining that India is steadfast in its commitment to CFT and has developed over the last few decades the necessary capabilities, legal frameworks, institutions, best practices for CFT, Parihar said that India took measures to bring its financial sectors to international standards including those of FATF.
“An effective multilateral approach to CFT, built on PPP to identify and mitigate new terror-financing risks, strengthening support to financial watchdogs such as FATF to ensure that member states bring their counter-financing structures at par with international standards are needs of the hour today,” Parihar added.
Yesterday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged democracies around the world to ensure that crypto-currencies or bitcoin do not end up in the wrong hands and spoil the youth.
Delivering a keynote address at The Sydney Dialogue, PM Modi said that it is essential for democracies to work together to create standards and norms for data governance.
“It should also recognise national rights and, at the same time, promote trade, investment and the larger public good,” he said.
New Delhi, Nov 19,2021: Bharatiya Kisan Union(BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Friday said the farmers will not take back their agitation immediately, and will wait for the laws to be repealed in Parliament, shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced repeal of the controversial farm laws.
“The agitation will not be withdrawn immediately, we will wait for the day when agricultural laws will be repealed in Parliament. Government should talk on MSP as well as other issues of farmers,” Rakesh Tikait said in a tweet.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced the repeal of the controversial three farm laws and expressed regret that the government could not make a section of farmers understand the importance of the new laws.
He announced that the laws would be repealed in the upcoming winter session of the Parliament and urged the farmers who are camping at the borders of Delhi to go back home.
Nov 18,2021:United States President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador are set to meet in person in Washington, DC, for the first time in five years to discuss economic integration, immigration and the pandemic.
President Joe Biden has revived the so-called Three Amigos summit – to be held at the White House on Thursday, for the first time since 2016, when former President Donald Trump put an end to them.
“It’s the restoration – or at least the beginning – of an attempt to restore the trilateral meetings that were happening before the Trump administration decided that it was not interested in anything trilateral or multilateral,” said Tony Payan, director of the Center for the United States and Mexico at the Baker Institute.
New York [US], November 18,2021: The United Nations calls for a more inclusive government in Afghanistan as the country has seen a curtailment of the fundamental rights of women and girls under the Taliban rule, a special UN envoy said on Wednesday.
Deborah Lyons, UN Special Representative and Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said “These range from limiting the right to work to the absence of women from major decision-making fora and from senior echelons of the civil service.”
“We continue to call for a more inclusive administration in which government institutions reflect Afghanistan’s broad diversity. We have seen limited progress on this issue,” the envoy said.
Lyons said in her interactions with the Taliban, the de-facto authorities recognized that they have made mistakes on women’s rights and inclusivity and are now trying to address them. However, the Taliban made it clear that there are limits to concessions they are willing to make on some issues, she added.
“On girls education, the de-facto authorities have indicated they are working on a nationwide policy so that the right to girls’ education can be exercised across the country. But they state that they need more time to clarify the policy and its implementation,” Lyons said.
The Taliban took over Afghanistan in mid-August after a decades-long war, which plunged the country into a prolonged humanitarian, security and economic crisis.
Going against all promises of the inclusive government, the Taliban have appointed an all-male cabinet.
They abolished the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and handed over the women’s ministry building to the reinstated Ministry of Vice and Virtue, which was responsible for some of the worst abuses against women during the Taliban’s previous period in power from 1996-2001.
Washington [US], November 18 ,2021: US-India Strategic Partnership Forum Chief Mukesh Aghi has said that the Trump administration was very close to the mini trade deal with India, but now the domestic politics in America is “much more complicated”.
“With Trump administration, we were very close to the mini trade deal. I think to show some kind of success in early harvesting. It is important that India-US agree where it was left with the Trump administration to close that out to build the momentum itself. But the domestic politics in the US is now much more complicated,” Aghi told ANI on Wednesday (local time).
Commenting further on the Biden administration, US-India Strategic Partnership Forum Chief said, “The progressive Left inserts labour rights, they talk about human rights, religious freedom, and I think if you start pushing those into a trade deal, you will not get a trade deal.”
US and India have agreed to take a comprehensive look at ways to expand the bilateral trade relationship.
In a virtual meet, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal had looked forward to their upcoming meetings in New Delhi (November 22-23).
Both leaders agreed to take a comprehensive look at ways to expand the bilateral trade relationship and ensure the future success of the US-India Trade Policy Forum, read Tai’s statement.
Vilnius, Nov 18,2021: Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said she had held a phone conversation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and called on the latter to exert pressure on Belarus to stop the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border.
“In a telephone conversation with President @vonderleyen, I stressed a need for the united EU stance in pressing [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko to stop migration flows and let international humanitarian organizations do their job in Belarus. Appeasement to dictator will only encourage rogue behaviour,” Simonyte wrote on her Twitter page on late Wednesday.
Von der Leyen said that she had discussed with Simonyte and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda the migration crisis and possible new sanctions against Belarus.
Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania have been repeatedly accusing Belarus of facilitating the movement of migrants to the EU to get back at Brussels for sanctions and urged for more punitive measures against Minsk. The latter rejects the accusation and maintains that it is unable to tackle the influx of migrants under the weight of Western sanctions.
Kabul, Nov 16,2021: Ahead of a United Nations Security Council session on Afghanistan on Wednesday, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen, who has been nominated by the Islamic Emirate as its envoy for the UN, renewed a call for the United Nations seat for the current Kabul regime.
On Wednesday, the UNSC is expected to address the situation in Afghanistan where a humanitarian crisis is looming.
There will be a briefing, followed by consultations, on Afghanistan. Special Representative and head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Deborah Lyons and civil society representatives are expected to brief the session.
Suhail Shaheen, the Islamic Emirate’s Doha-based spokesperson, said the current government in Afghanistan “possesses what makes it eligible to represent the country at the UN”, he said on Twitter, repeating a call for Afghanistan’s UN seat.