Tax Rules : Experts have said that a holistic new tax code is needed, focusing on low rates, increasing the tax base, and better collection and compliance for a developed India. They said this before the budget was presented next year. Experts said that to increase net tax revenue as well as to accelerate the economy and realize the vision of a developed India by 2047, there is an urgent need to focus on few and low tax rates, reduction in legal disputes, inclusive tax base, and efficient tax collection.

When will the budget be presented?

The Union Budget for the financial year 2025-26 is likely to be presented in Parliament on February 1. Former Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) chairman PC Jha said, "It is definitely not a good situation that we have so many tax rates under GST. Ideally, there should be one tax rate in GST, but it is not possible to have one tax rate in our country." At a seminar of Think Change Forum (TCF), he said that 12 percent and 18 percent can be combined to form a single rate of 16 percent and three tax rates (5 percent, 16 percent, and 28 percent) can be considered.

The government loses the issue

Supporting the need to simplify the current provisions in the taxation system, Rajiv Chugh, Partner, EY, said, "Reduction in tax rates will increase disposable income in the hands of citizens and corporates. Rationalized, it can boost the economy." Rajat Mohan, Senior Partner, AMRG & Associates, said there is a need to simplify tax laws, bring uniformity in them with a focus on compliance, and expand the tax base. Mohan said, "The government loses more than 50 percent of cases before they reach the Supreme Court.

Tax demand is being made for these companies.

Recently, we have seen that tax demands have been raised on companies that do not even have the revenue to justify the size of the tax demand. Therefore, a more efficient tax system will have to reduce cases of legal disputes.” Suraj Malik, managing partner, of  Legacy Growth, said that although there have been gradual changes in tax laws and many ambiguities have been removed, there is still a huge difference between international and Indian processes and foreign investors are looking for uniformity in Indian tax laws.