FM urges industry to look beyond rate cuts to compliance and revenue; calls for robust tax policy research

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urged industry stakeholders to ensure that tax policy recommendations submitted to the government address broader issues, including compliance costs, revenue implications and potential unintended consequences, rather than focusing merely on demands for rate cuts, exemptions or concessions. She made the remarks while speaking at the 8th International Tax Conference on “New Age Taxation”, organised by the International Tax Research and Analysis Foundation (ITRAF) here on Wednesday.

Addressing the conference, Ms. Sitharaman said tax consultations should be a genuine exercise involving “evidence, experience and ideas’’ rather than merely providing stakeholders an opportunity to place representations on record. She also urged academics, researchers, and think tanks to produce independent tax policy studies that help improve public discourse on taxation.