FM asks tax professionals for quantified policy alternatives

Bengaluru: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday asked tax professionals and industry bodies to move beyond demands for tax cuts, exemptions, general grievances and concessions and submit quantified tax policy alternatives to the government. She said the quality of public debate on taxation could improve, pointing to the nature of representations made during annual pre-Budget consultations.Addressing the 8th International Tax Conference on ‘New Age Taxation’, organised by the International Tax Research and Analysis Foundation (ITRAF) here, she said policy recommendations should set out the number of taxpayers affected, compliance costs, revenue implications, effects on the wider tax base, and if possible, the unintended consequences from such a suggestion.UPI MDR may attract 18% GST; eligible merchants can claim input tax credit“Year after year, a very large part of the representation eventually comes down to three requests.” Sitharaman said.The FM added that she did not question the sincerity of such representations, as each sector naturally argues from the standpoint of the businesses and taxpayers it represents.A mature tax-policy debate should go beyond sectoral consideration.“What we see much less often is a submission that says, for instance, here is a provision that no longer serves the tax system and ought to be removed, even though we presently benefit from it,” she said.The finance minister also called for tax research institutions to become a regular part of public discourse. “I would now urge you to contribute visibly,” she said.She asked industry, professional bodies, experts and other stakeholders to prepare tax-policy alternatives that could help policymakers evaluate different choices rather than only identify problems.The remarks came ahead of the conference which will focus on new-age taxation, including AI, mobility, robotics, the gig economy, virtual digital assets and the distinction between goods and services in digital transactions.GST process reforms nextThe FM also disclosed that the next meeting of the GST Council, scheduled for the first week of October, will focus on process reforms.The announcement came during a question on GST disputes, data reconciliation, income tax credit and a proposal for wider e-invoicing.“Many of the questions that you have raised here, and I am not saying all, I do not know… I cannot reveal before the council talks about it, but this meeting of the GST Council will entirely focus on process reform, which was part of the GST 2.0,” she said.

Source: Deccan Herald