No major announcements in coming budget: Mani

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance Minister K M Mani,  who held pre-budget discussions with industry leaders with barely a week to go for the budget presentation, said there would be no major policy announcements in his first budget. Mani also hinted that he would more or less keep to the logic of the LDF budget, especially the tax measures."This is just an interim budget. I have certain limitations to present a brand new budget.  The LDF budget will not be discarded in toto. For radical tax reforms, we have to wait for my next budget in March,’’  K M Mani said,  after conducting pre-budget consultations with industry leaders here on Saturday.  Nonetheless, he added, this budget would take certain ‘’bold and innovative steps’’. One of them perhaps would be a proposal to curtail what Mani termed as ‘’modern ways’’ of tax evasion.  What Mani specifically had in mind was the Rs 1000-crore-plus business carried out through tele-marketing and internet-marketing.  ‘’These business are carried out without any registration and therefore they are not assessed.  The Government is planning to come up with measures to bring this huge volume of business within the tax net,’’ Mani said.  Another measure will be ways to settle revenue cases that are caught up in legal tangles. The Finance Minister said that economic experts, representatives of Chambers of Commerce and traders had put forward a slew of recommendations. ‘’Many of them were new and innovative. I have not given them any promise,  whether their proposals will be accepted or not,’’ Mani said.Economic Advisory CouncilThe UDF Government,  however, is all set to give the industry a pride of place in the decision-making process.  An Economic Advisory Council with economic experts, representatives of Chambers of Commerce and the trading community will be set up to guide the government in economic affairs. This council will meet once every three months. ‘’They will meet for a long time and their views will be considered,’’ Mani said.Mani also hinted at a more lenient attitude towards the trading community. ‘’I told them that the trading community helps the government in its revenue mobilisation efforts. Theirs is a service. So never ever will they be harassed,’’  the Finance Minister said.  However, Mani said that tax evasion on the part of the trading community would not be tolerated.