Budget 2017: CII recommends lower corporate tax

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Tuesday recommended Ministry of Finance to cut down corporate tax to 18% in the upcoming Annual Budget in 2017. 

CII in a tweet said, "Proposed 18% Corporate tax including all surcharges and cesses and withdrawal of all tax incentives and no grandfathering."

CII Recommendation on Corporate Tax Rate #Budget2017 pic.twitter.com/6FL4TjeBHv

— CII (@FollowCII) December 27, 2016

Currently, average corporate tax rate for the industry sector in the country is around 22-23% as against other Asian countries, where the maximum tax rate for companies is 16-25%. 

According to a The Hindu report, which quoted CII document that was submited to the Ministry, the industry body has recommended that the Budget 2017 should introduce a new  personal income tax structure. As per the its recommendation, the new tax structure should be as follows: Income up to Rs 3 lakh a year would be exempt from income tax. Person earning between Rs 3 lakh to Rs 10 lakh a year will be liable for 10% tax. Income between Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh will be taxed at  20% and the income of above Rs 20 lakh a year will attract a tax of 30%.

The industry body also recommended that the excise duty in India should be kept at 12.5% until the Goods and Service Tax (GST) is implemented, the report said quoting the CII document.