Govt may reduce personal income tax: NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar
The government is considering demands from the industry for a cut in personal income tax rates, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar has said. According to a report with NDTV, Rajiv Kumar said, "I have heard that there are demands of personal income tax rate cuts and I am fully confident that the government is holding consultations and discussions on this matter." The development comes a day after industrialist Adi Godrej echoed similar views and called for a reduction in income tax to spur consumption.
Earlier on Thursday, chairman of the Godrej Group had said the government should introduce a stimulus package as well as lower income tax rates to boost consumption in the economy.
Various measures, including withdrawal of higher taxes on foreign investors, a megabank consolidation plan and a reduction in corporate taxes to revive consumption and spur growth have been announced by the government over the past month.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India on Friday lowered the country's growth outlook and projected the economy to grow at 6.1 per cent from its earlier projection of 6.9 per cent for the current financial year.
To this end, Kumar termed RBI's move to lower growth projection as turning "aggressively cautious".
According to NDTV, "The government is likely to take more steps to revive the economy and more policies will be changed," Mr Kumar said. He added that by the third or fourth quarter of the current financial year the economic growth will start picking up.
Also Read | Vegetable prices unlikely to go down in next few weeks: RBI
Also Read | RBI cuts repo rate by 25 bps, reverse repo rate adjusted to 4.90 pc
