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Suggestions galore on mygov.in portal
Even before Finance Minister Arun Jaitley begins consulting businesses, and the North Block shuts its doors to keep the Union Budget documents a secret, the finance ministry has already received more than 1,600 inputs from citizens, reflecting in many ways what the common man wants from the Union Budget.
From steps to eliminate black money to a rise in income-tax ceiling; from views that very important persons should travel only in India-made vehicles to the need for a separate ministry for ‘achchhe din’; from tips for an agricultural turnaround to levy of a cess on high-networth individuals and a fund to retain talent in India -- the mygov.in portal has drawn both mundane and transformative ideas on what the public wants from Budget 2016-17.
If the government wants to take public opinion seriously, says an official, the Budget-making team will have to regularly go through the thousands of inputs piling up on the mygov.in portal, the government’s online platform for interaction with the public on various projects and issues.
A citizen who claims to be a long-time supporter of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party seeks Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in delivering the promised income-tax reduction to the middle class.
“Don’t reduce corporation tax but provide relief to the middle class, which voted en masse.”
Also pointing out that service tax is “killing”, he wants a drastic cut in this, “otherwise, BJP can forget our votes in 2019,” he threatens.
A raise in the Income Tax exemption limit has been sought by many.
While some say it should go up to Rs 400,000 from the present Rs 250,000, others want the exemption to be at least Rs 500,000.
If the basic income tax exemption limit is raised from Rs 250,000 to Rs 500,000, it would mean an additional cost of at least Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion) to the exchequer, according to estimates.
About 89 per cent of the 35 million taxpayers have taxable income of up to Rs 500,000, but people in this band pay just a little over 10 per cent of the total income tax collections.
Another citizen demands a pay commission for the private sector, so that salaries of private employees can also go up along with those in government jobs.
“Common people will get ‘achchhe din’ only if their cost of living is reduced.
One of the basic factors determining cost of living in our country is fuel price,” writes a citizen. “Request (you) to kindly reduce the fuel price and provide achchhe din to us.”
Another citizen goes on to demand an ‘achchhe din’ ministry to drive the various government initiatives.
While the government is giving the final touches to its start-up policy, public is already on it.
“Give start-ups an initial relaxation from taxes for one year.
This will boost the confidence and make these lucrative.”
While the government has made ‘Make in India’ its signature campaign, citizens are also talking about how to improve the manufacturing industry. “
The reason why our manufacturing industry is not growing is the steel price, which is 20 per cent higher than the Chinese steel price.
You need to either do something in the steel sector so that the prices come on a par with Chinese prices, or reduce the duties on steel so that the industry can import the metal at a cheaper rate from China and sell finished goods in the world market.”
That will increase growth in the manufacturing industry and also create jobs, he says.
In sync with the government’s ‘Make in India’ theme, a citizen suggests that all government officials and VIPs use the vehicles of Indian brands alone — that is, they do not use vehicles of high-end international brands like Mercedes, Audi, Posche, etc.
The suggestion is for the PM, President, ministers, chief ministers, judiciary and defence. “It will result in huge growth in GDP. Kindly implement this idea without any propaganda.”
To promote use of plastic money, there is a suggestion that the tax imposed on point-of-sale transactions be lifted.
In a related matter, a citizen demands that the use of a currency be limited to a maximum period of three years.
That is, in 2016, only the currency printed after January 1, 2013, should be considered valid.
“If people need to use older currency, they should get it exchanged from banks.
It will stop people from accumulating cash.”
Yet another input is that a cess to the tune of 0.05 per cent (in addition to education cess) be levied on the taxable income of all people earning more than Rs 30 lakh (Rs 3 million) a year.
Funds coming from this can be utilised for research & development schemes.
The same person advises the finance ministry to offer tax sops to people willing to install residential rooftop solar systems.
Perhaps inspired by the Delhi government’s odd- even formula, a citizen recommends that a pollution cess be imposed on users of diesel vehicles.
Others suggest higher price of diesel and diesel cars.
Removal of house rent payment clause 10(13) A is a view expressed by several people on the portal.
The reason cited is that people tend to misuse the clause by showing fake receipts/agreements to claim deductions.
Instead, this exemption can be evenly distributed across other sections.
For employment generation, a citizen suggests a voluntary retirement system for people in government jobs who are aged over 50 years.
Instead, he suggests, the wards of people availing of VRS, be given jobs in the same organisation.
Extra privilege for those paying income tax on time is another common suggestion.
This could be in the form of exemption from other taxes like service tax, value-added tax, home registration charges, road tax, etc.
To arrest brain drain, a student has asked for creation of a special fund of Rs 5,000 crore. It is, however, not clear how this fund will help retain Indian talent.
Surcharge or additional tax for purchase from malls and online buying is another radical idea.
People with two or three houses — even those with some registered in the name of their spouses — should be charged additional tax, the same person suggests.
Besides, experts are not the only people saying this Budget should focus on agriculture.
One of the inputs on mygov.in is that drones should be used extensively in agriculture.
Since up to 80 per cent losses in agriculture are due to pests and diseases, innovative drones can quickly take samples from air and detect incoming disease, says a citizen in his suggestion.
“This can help alert farmers.” Another request is for a “separate budget for agriculture” as that is the most important aspect of the economy.
Giving the key points for the Budget, a citizen suggests that cities be allowed to issue municipal bonds for raising funds; government controls over corporate downsizing be relaxed; Air India be privatised; the Bibek Debroy committee’s report be accepted and implemented; social-impact assessment in infrastructure projects be ensured; retrospective taxation on cross-border investments be removed; and kerosene and fertiliser pricing be deregulated.
“I request the government to invest more in education and health care facilities this year. It will be better if the government can create a site where particulars of tax coming from the Swachh Bharat cess are provided,” writes another.
One of the out-of-the-box suggestions comes for a system where people are given points for every good deed, so that they can redeem those points against special benefits from the government, such as tax discounts.
Another such proposal is that all citizens should have a single fixed lifetime bank account linked to PAN, Aadhaar and voter identity, with the provision to change the banker for better service.
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