The Hon’ble Finance Minister befittingly described the theme of her direct tax proposals under Union Budget 2023 as continuity and stability. Contrary to expectations, Union Budget, 2023 does not rock the boat. Notably, there is no rejig of the capital gains tax regime, buy back tax rates, changes impacting cross-border tax or roll out of new tax incentives for corporate India. Instead, the tax proposals focus on giving relief to the middle-class taxpayer and look to phase out personal income tax related deductions and benefits. Some existing tax incentives have been continued and extended for start-ups and international financial services centers (IFSC). Additionally, a 15% concessional tax rate has been extended to cooperative societies in the manufacturing space. In the corporate tax space, few significant changes include extension of angel tax provisions to share issuances to non-residents, new tax regime for online gaming companies, and taxation of REITs and InVITs. In this article, we summarize some of the key highlights of the direct tax proposals under the Union Budget, 2023.
Source: Barandbench
