Without any big bang reforms

Anil Chopra, Group CEO & Director, Bajaj Capital

''Budget 2017-18 is on expected lines of giving marginal relief to taxpayers without any big bang reforms. For taxpayers with annual income up to Rs. 50 lakh the max income relief is Rs12,500. This is because the initial slab of 10 per cent is now reduced to 5 per cent. However, Budget is harsh for those whose income is between Rs50 lakh - Rs1 crore as they will end up paying higher tax to the tune of Rs1 lakh to Rs3 lakh. For them the relief of Rs12,500 is minuscule in front of additional surcharge at the rate 10 per cent.

It is surprising that those with an annual income of Rs1 crore or above will also get relief of Rs. 12,500. However, the biggest benefit will accrue to Small and Medium corporates whose annual turnover is less than Rs50 crore per annum as their Income Tax rate has been reduced from 30 per cent to 25 per cent. This will encourage entrepreneurship and growth of small business.

The other positive announcement is the reduction in holding period for land and building for computation of long term capital gain from three years to two years. This will spur the sale/purchase activity in the real-estate sector.''