Budget 2024: Make personal tax regime attractive to chart path for Viksit Bharat

livemint.com:

NEW DELHI : The full Union Budget 2024-25 is to be presented by the re-elected government on 23 July. The taxpayers’ expectations from the Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman are well known. The overarching expectation is that the government will announce measures to increase personal disposable income.

The common person expects that the tax burden would be spread across a larger taxpayer base such that the tax cost per person is rationalized. The government’s priorities are (or should be) to create more jobs, make interventions that will help manage inflation, address income inequality, and put more money in the hands of the people to spend more to keep the economy buzzing. If India aspires to be a developed economy by 2047, it needs to have a sustained period of high growth.

This needs a transformation in technology and innovation. There is a correlation between personal income tax and building an entrepreneurial culture. The startup ecosystem has put India on the world map of innovation and entrepreneurship, but we need to keep it attractive for the bright minds who are venturing into entrepreneurship to make India their base and strengthen the ecosystem.

The personal tax burden for startup entrepreneurs should be eased to make it attractive for them to focus on making India the world leader in innovation and the hub for innovative technology development. With the gross domestic product (GDP) growth of over 8% in 2023-24, buoyancy in total tax collections and the significant amount of the Reserve Bank of India dividend, the government has the resources at its disposal for measures aimed at putting more money in the hands of the people. Given the better performance of the industry from a supply side, higher