The Union Budget 2021 will be tabled in Parliament on February 1, 2021. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has promised a never before like Union Budget as the Modi government looks to give a further boost to the Indian economy. Some of the expectations from the industry leaders are:
Expectations from Mr. Vikas Bajaj – President, AIFI (Association of Indian Forging Industry)
“The current budget is expected to be balanced for both consumers and manufacturers. The budget for this year should be outlined in ‘RECOVERY & GROWTH.’ The Government needs to invest more funds in major industries, including infrastructure, real estate, manufacturing, tourism, so that they can emerge from the COVID 19 pandemic and increase employment. There is a need to increase the existing incentives to increase exports. There is also a need to speed up the process of refunding the GST to provide the industry with liquidity. In addition, the highest tax rate under the GST legislation must also be minimised by up to 18% in order to boost demand. The industry is also awaiting some news on the scrappage policy”.
Expectations from Sonam Shah, Founder and CEO, Treize Communications.
Budget 2021 will be the first Budget in a post-pandemic economy, so a lot of expectations are set, especially by business owners and entrepreneurs who have been facing a lot of challenges in running their company. Our Finance Minister, Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman has promised a “never before” like Union Budget and I have expectations that it will live up to that. The upcoming Budget should focus more on reviving the country’s economy and bringing in relief for SME’s, MSME’s, and entrepreneurial business models. It is imperative to understand that small businesses across India hold great importance in reviving the country’s economy at a fast rate and creating job opportunities, so a continuous support from the government is always welcomed to grow this sector.
I would love to see this Budget favouring women in businesses. A lot of women have started small businesses during the lockdown to support the family, and there should be a proper way in helping them set up a business model within it and also guide them in financial matters. Educating them on matters related to tax and helping them ease the process will help. There should be tax benefits for women entrepreneurs as well as incentives for women-led businesses that are paying timely taxes. The government should also offer incentives for homegrown businesses that are paying tax on time. Easing the taxpayer’s load will be a welcome and supportive change.
The tax procedures need to be made simpler and easy to understand as there are many challenges cropping up for independent small businesses across India. While digitisation is important, we, in India, have a lot of businesses that are run by individuals who cannot easily adapt to the new ways of digital working. There is an overburden in compliance, which increases overhead costs for any business. There should be a substitute method for this too.
Also, with payments and cash flow being affected badly this year, strict norms and policies in late and default payments should be set up and implemented. This increases workflow capital which is needed to keep business running.
