The Budget 2022 is only a fortnight away. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the budget on February 1, 2022. As the budget approaches near, industry bodies have been coming forth with their demands.  

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The street is of the view that certain taxes like STT (Securities Transaction Tax) and dividend taxation need immediate attention of the government. Securities Transaction Tax is a direct tax charged on purchase and sale of securities that are listed on the recognized stock exchanges in India. STT is always calculated on the Average Price. 

It also expects the government to rationalise long term capital gains on equity in view of the Covid 19 pandemic, which has affected almost all the sectors. As per Income Tax, profits or gains arising from transfer of a capital asset are called “Capital Gains” and are charged to tax under the head “Capital Gains”. 

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Speaking on the Street's expectations from the Union Budget, Ravi Singh, Vice President and Head of Research-Share India, said certain tax issues need an immediate resolution like STT and dividend taxation.   

"The Indian economy appears to be showing signs of recovery, well celebrated by the capital market which has given massive returns to the investors in 2021. However, with incomes severely hit in 2020 due to the Covid19 pandemic, there is an urgent need to boost spending and consumption. Rationalisation of long term-capital gains on equity is also awaited since long time," he said.  

Share India Head of Research advocated for incentivizing certain sectors for growth the economy. "Capital boost to infrastructure, banking, sugar and fertiliser sectors may help to maintain the economy’s pace," he said.  

The expert was also of the view that the Union Budget will see the government working around themes to revive the economy.  "Many of the government themes will revolve around the steps to revive the economy by providing productive spending and subsidies. Therefore, we expect banking, auto, infra, fertiliser and sugar sector to be more focused in the Union Budget," he added.  

Budget, which is also termed a financial bill, is presented by Finance Minister each year. During Congress’ regime, a Railway Budget used to be separately tabled in the Parliament along with along with General Budget. Also, the Budget used to be presented on the last working day of February, however, it was changed to the first day of February. The norm was changed by the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.  

The budget speech, which used to be presented at 5:00 pm in accordance with British time, now begins around 11 am. In Budget 2021, the finance minister addressed the house through her budget speech for 141 minutes.