Economic Survey for 2015 – 2016 calls for higher property tax rates

#NewDelhi : The Economic Survey for 2015-1016, tabled by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Parliament calls for higher property tax rates. According to the survey, “Higher Property tax rates with periodic updation will improve local government finances, discourage speculation in real estate sector and pave the way for smart cities.”

Talking extensively of taxation the survey also said that the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) as a reforms measure will “perhaps be unprecedented in the modern global tax history.” Estimated to affect between 2 to 2.5 million excise and service tax payers, the survey says the GST would impact dramatic changes in the Indian tax system.

The GST, to be implemented by the Centre, 28 States and 7 Union Territories, awaits a Constitutional amendment requiring broad political consensus.

The Economic Survey also calls for a review and phasing out of the tax exemption Raj that benefited the richer private sector. The Survey recalls the promise to bring down Corporate Taxes from 30 percent to 25 percent while proposing the phasing out of exemptions in an orderly manner. It also calls for reasonable taxation of the better-off individuals regardless of where their income comes from, – Industry, Services, Real Estate, Agriculture.

Laying out the fiscal capacity roadmap for the 21st Century, the Survey calls for widening of the individual tax payers’ base.