Budget 2023 - Taxing Transactions as They Are

According to proposals in the Union Budget 2023-24, the government plans to tax transactions for their true character, and not the form they are in

- Dinesh Kanabar

THE UNION BUDGET 2023-24 has been widely hailed as a positive and progressive Budget, and rightly so. The key pre-Budget expectations were that there would be a thrust on capital spending, particularly in the infrastructure sector, and that there should be consistency in the tax regime with not too many changes. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has obliged on both counts. Moreover, she has avoided populist proposals that are common in pre-election Budgets.

There is a massive thrust in the Budget on capital spends, up by more than a third over the preceding fiscal. This should help continued creation of jobs and expansion of the economy. There are no changes on the corporate tax front and the widely rumoured changes to the capital gains tax regime were not on the table.

The proposal to set up a settlement scheme for arbitration matters of the government and public sector undertakings is interesting and we eagerly await details. The commitment to reduce forms and decriminalise offences is also welcome.