12 February 2018
should be 25 per cent,” said Jaitley, “the idea was that Indian businesses must have an investible
surplus to create jobs. I had put a caveat that this should go along with the removal of exemptions.
this is difficult [to do], as many businesses have been set up with exemptions in mind. [Across-
the-board rate lowering] will happen when the sunset clauses kick in for these exemptions.” the
Finance Minister pointed to the fact small and Medium sized enterprises had already been granted
the benefit. “there are 7,000 companies that fall in the 25 per cent rate of taxation [slab], but by using
exemptions they end up paying [an effective rate] of 22 per cent,” he said.
In this context, Jaitley was asked about subsidies and tax breaks. his response highlighted the
Government’s approach: “to give a small subsidy to a small section and have ramshackle infra-
structure does no service to the country. the goods and services tax (Gst) has helped industry and
has given relief to it. In addition, standard deduction has been given to salaried people. the three
20“We need to
concentrate
on rural IndIa.
If you look at
rural IndIa over
the last seven to
eIght years, you
can see there Is
dIstress”
arun Jaitley