Year-long extension for benefits under section 10A of IT Act sought by IT firms
10 Feb 2011
With the budget set to be announced on 28February, various sectors of Indian industry are busy drawing up their wish lists.
The IT sector too, expects the budget to address a few of their wishes. According to Rolta, a multinational software development and services company, a one-year extension to STPI (Software Technology Parks of India [ Images ]) ranks high in the list of what it hopes from the budget.
Chief financial officer Hiranya Ashar would like an extension of at least a year for the benefits under Section 10A of IT Act from the finance ministry.
He said from the perspective of the IT industry there were three major items on which it has expectation from the budget and at the top of the list was STPI benefits under section 10A.
He adds that though many companies and industry associations have recommended STPI benefits to continue for a longer period and to be treated at par with SEZ (Special Economic Zones) benefits, according to him at least one year extension in this Budget would be extremely helpful.
The second item on the list his list is the rate at which MAT (Minimum Alternative Tax) is levied while the third item is on the indirect tax side where there is still no clarity on how software should be taxed, whether it is services or goods and whether service tax or VAT (Value Added Tax) is applicable.
