In order to reduce rising fear psychosis among consumers about tax structure and boost consumer demand, industry body, the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (Assocham) has said that the government should rethink over tax on cash deals above Rs. 2 lakh. The industry body has requested the government to ensure that there shall not be any tax terrorism, especially of high value products and services, as also trade channels, must be avoided.
The Income Tax Department has been levying 1 per cent Tax Collected at Source (TCS) on cash purchase of bullion in excess of Rs 2 lakh and jewellery in excess of Rs 5 lakh since July 1, 2012. But Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget 2016-17, had imposed TCS of one per cent on goods and services purchased in cash in excess of Rs 2 lakh.
Noting that the people should be encouraged and not discouraged to start spending again as the economy is still in the re-monetisation stage, Assocham said that government officials at all levels should be made accountable for their actions and no witch-hunt should be resorted to. Proposals like Tax Collected at Source on transactions above Rs 2 lakh could be revisited to revive consumer demand as the economy may take almost a year to normalise and for demand to return to pre-demonetisation level.
The industry body urged for abundant caution on the part of tax authorities so that no negative signals are sent to industry and consumers. It said that in order to revive economic sentiments and to create employment, full and fast re-monetisation should be top priority. It also said that despite the new RBI guidelines, banks are wary of taking hard decisions in terms of debt restructuring for fear of coming under the investigative scanner.
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