The Union budget 2021-22 was presented on 1st February 2021 by Honourable Finance Minister, Ms. Nirmala Sitaraman. To discuss on the implications it had on the direct and indirect taxes, World Trade Center Kochi in association with Indo American Chamber of Commerce and BDO India LLP organized an online session ‘Analysis of the Union Budget 2021-22’. Renowned Economist and Author Dr. V. K. Vijayakumar was the Keynote Speaker at the programme. Mr. Dinesh Kumar, Associate Partner – Indirect Tax and Mr. Raghnathan Parthasarathy, Associate Partner – Tax & Regulatory Services, BDO India LLP spoke on Direct and Indirect tax. World Trade Center Pune was the channel partner for the programme.
Dr. V.K. Vijayakumar spoke about the context under which the 2021-22 was presented. He recollected the historic 1991 budget by then Finance Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh. In this year, GDP had contracted by 23 percent, huge losses in MSME segment and also a large fiscal deficit. It is expected that India will be the fastest growing economy by next fiscal year. Certain sectors like travel & tourism hospitality have suffered under the pandemic while other organized sectors like pharmaceuticals, IT, automobile, cement etc have flourished indicating a ‘K shaped ‘ recovery for the economy. The current budget is focused on privatization. He commended the National Infrastructure Pipeline in which 111 lakh crore are to be spent over 2020-25 by Central, State governments and private sector which can kickstart high economic growth in the country.
Mr. Raghunathan Parthasarathy, explained the impacts on Direct tax. He elaborated on the amendments in the MAT provisions, transactions tax, withholding tax, personal tax etc. and also on the changes in timelines regarding summary assessment. He also mentioned the boost to real estate sector that is proposed. Mr. Dinesh Kumar detailed on the changes in indirect tax. He explained the changes in GST, Customs and amendments in Central Sales Tax.
Dr. Bose K. Nair, Vice President, World Trade Center; Mr. Ambarish Saraf, Chairman, IACC and Mr. Vivek George, Manager, World Trade Center Bengaluru, Kochi & Chennai also spoke. World Trade Center Pune was the channel partner for the programme.
