India Inc on Tuesday made a pitch for a reduction in personal tax rates to attain 10 per cent GDP growth rate. Industry captains told finance minister P Chidambaram at a pre-Budget meeting that excise duty on manufacturing should be slashed to 14 from the current 16 per cent.

Assocham president & chairman Venugopal N Dhoot said, “The finance minister said revenue and fiscal deficit would be under control, which would lead to growth of over 10 per cent in the coming fiscal.” To sustain such growth, corporate tax should be fixed at 30 per cent and surcharge waived, he felt.

However, FICCI proposed corporate tax rate be brought down to 25 per cent while the surcharge retained. According to the proposal, annual income of Rs 1.5-5 lakh should be taxed at 20 per cent, while the 30 per cent rate should set in only for income above Rs 5 lakh. Currently, income of Rs 1.5-2.5 lakh is taxed 20 per cent, while income above Rs 2.5 lakh attracts 30 per cent.

FICCI president Habil Khorakiwala said this step would generate savings and raise purchasing power. FICCI asked the Government to remove fringe-benefit tax.

Pitching for the removal of minimum alternate tax and dividend distribution tax, Larsen & Toubro chairman AM Naik highlighted that the capital goods industry has been facing dumping of goods from China. He demanded the Government impose anti-dumping duties of 35 per cent on these imports. CII president Sunil Mittal said tax incentives should be provided for companies making huge investments in skill development.

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