On Friday, in a major fiscal booster Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to cut the corporate tax rates for all domestic companies by almost 10 percentage points -- with effect from April 1, 2019 -- to boost Economic growth rate from a six-year low by incentivising investments to help create employment. The announcements came ahead of the 37th GST Council meet, which is scheduled to be held later in the day.

According to Finance Minister, the changes in the Income Tax Act were made effective by passing an ordinance minutes before the announcement were made.

The tax cut will cost the exchequer Rs 1.45 lakh crore yearly.

* To promote growth & investment in the economy, the Govt. introduced new provisions in the Income Tax Act, with effect from fiscal 2019-20, which allows any domestic company to pay Income Tax at the rate of 22%, subject to condition that they will not avail any incentive or tax exemptions. The effective tax rate for such companies will be 25.17 per cent, inclusive of all surcharge & cess. Such companies shall not be required to pay minimum alternate tax (MAT).

* For attracting fresh invest in manufacturing & provide a boost to Make in India, any new domestic company incorporated on or after Oct 1, 2019 & making fresh invest in manufacturing will have an option to pay Income Tax at the rate of 15 per cent. This is applicable for companies which do not avail any incentives or exemptions & will be commencing production on or before March 31, 2023. The effective tax rate will be 17.01 per cent , inclusive of all surcharge & cess. These companies will also not be required to pay MAT.

* Providing relief to companies which continue to avail incentive or exemptions, the MAT rate has been reduced to 15 per cent from the existing 18.5 per cent.

* Companies which do not opt for concessional tax regime & avails tax exemptions or incentives shall continue to pay tax at pre-amended rates. However, these companies can opt for concessional tax regime after the expiry of tax holiday or exemption.

* To stabilise flow of funds in capital market, the Finance Minister said that the enhanced surcharge introduced by Budget 2019 shall not apply on capital gains arising on sale of equity share in a company or a unit of equity oriented fund, or a unit of business trust liable for securities transaction tax in the hands of individual, HUF, AOP, AJP.

* The enhanced surcharge shall also not apply to capital gains arising on sale of any securities including derivatives in hands of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), said Finance Minister.

* To provide relief to listed companies which have already made a public announcement of buyback before July 5, 2019, the Govt. provided that tax on buyback of shares shall not be charged.

* The Govt. has also decided to expand the scope of the 2 per cent corporate social responsibility (CSR) fund that companies have to provide for identified activities. This amount can now also be spent on the incubator funded by the Central or State Govt. agency, or public sector undertakings (PSUs) of Central & State Govts. The CSR funds can also be used for R&D activities of IITs & other autonomous bodies. However, the CSR provision will not be included in the ordinance, said Sitharaman.

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