Big boosts to startups; "No angel tax on Startups" says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Today, amid rumblings from the business community, FM Nirmala Sitharaman made big announcements and among them was withdrawal of enhanced surcharge on long-term/short-term capital gains arising from transfer of equity shares/units. This will help FPIs as the pre-budget position has been restored vis a vis the surcharge. It had caused the stock markets to retreat in a significant manner.  FM also gave a major boosts to Startups as she announced the withdrawal of angel tax provisions on them and their investors -  a demand that all start-ups had made. 

Welcoming the move by the Centre, Ranjit Nair (PhD AI), CEO and Founder of Germin8 Solution said, "I think the withdrawal of angel tax for startups and investors is an encouraging step that hopefully will boost investments in Indian startups. Hopefully, now entrepreneurs will be free to build and grow their businesses instead of wasting energy and sleep on answering IT notices and justifying their valuation. It also signals a small but significant step towards changing the mindset of IT officials to not treat citizens and companies with suspicion and a presumption of guilt."

Stating this move simplifications in our tax system, Satyen Kothari, the founder and CEO of Cube Wealth said, "For India to be a $5 trillion economy, encouraging job creators has to be priority #1. And startups are the most prolific job creators - not just for today but for the future as we position ourselves as an intellectual powerhouse. The removal of Angel Tax, and hopefully additional future simplifications in our tax system, are a welcome move to encouraging businesses to flourish in India."