Jaitley abolishes wealth tax, corporate tax to be reduced

In his first full Budget, which has been billed as a ‘make-or break’ Budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday abolished the wealth tax on super-rich with an income of Rs 1 crore or more per year and replaced it with a surcharge of 2 per cent. He also proposed to cut corporate tax from 30 per cent to 25 per cent over next the next four years.

Jaitley presented the Union Budget 2015-16 aimed at high growth, saying the pace of cutting the fiscal deficit would slow as he seeks to boost investment and ensure that ordinary people benefit. “India is about to take off,” Jaitley said in his speech. “The world is predicting that this is India’s chance to fly.”

The BSE Sensex spurted following the Finance Minister’s proposed to cut the corporate tax rate and delaying the implementation of planned General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) by two years.