Budget 2022: Centre mulls phasing out some tax exemptions; crypto sector wants clarity on classification, taxation and more

As Budget 2022 announcement by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman draws close, several sectors of the economy have come up with their wishlists.

In this episode of the Budget 2022 Podcast, CNBCTV18.com’s Kanishka Sarkar talks about what different sectors, including cryptocurrency and service sectors, want to be included in the annual financial statement. She also shares experts think the Budget should not be and how Indian finance ministers started with carrying their speeches and switched to ‘bahi khata’ and then to a tablet.

The firms operating in the cryptocurrency universe expect the Union Budget to offer complete clarity on crypto classification and the digital asset’s taxation. While the industry doesn’t expect crypto to become a legal tender, it wants the digital currency to be treated as an asset class, sources have told CNBC-TV18.

Crypto exchanges in pre-budget recommendations have said the government should consider all aspects of crypto taxation and have a reasonable tax regime for the sector. A GST of 18 percent can be charged on fee collected by exchanges in enabling buying and selling of cryptos.

They also suggested that profits from crypto investments can be charged a short-term capital gains tax of 30 percent and a long-term capital gains tax of 20 percent. The industry bodies have also called for taxes on trading and investment in cryptos to be similar to trading and investment in commodities and securities.

Meanwhile, a report suggests the Centre may consider phasing out certain direct tax exemptions in the next fiscal. As the government expects more people to switch to the new tax regime in the coming years, the Finance Ministry is exploring options to rationalise capital gains tax rates, the report said.

As more and more people shift to the new tax brackets, the government will slowly phase out some exemptions, a top policymaker told Business Standard.

However, Rohinton Sidhwa, direct tax partner with Deloitte India, as quoted in the report, is of the view some tax exemptions such as Section 80JJAA, which gives incentives to companies to hire new workers, should be continued.

Pratik Gupta, CEO and co-head of institutional equities at Kotak Securities, on the other hand, is hopeful that there won’t be too much of a spike in populist measures this time. A populist budget tends to spend on policies only to please people and has no impact on the economy.