'Non-tax sops better for wooing investors'

At advanced stage of formulating Bill to replace SEZ Act: Malhotra

- Gireesh Chandra Prasad

The government is at an advanced stage of formulating a new piece of legislation to offer investors ready approvals for all requirements and replace the special economic zones (SEZ) Act, with non-tax measures remaining the preferred route for promoting new investments in the country, revenue secretary Sanjay Malhotra said in an interview.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs (DESH) Bill in February 2022. The proposed law will replace the existing one governing SEZs.

India has also given relief on 'angel tax' to foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) from well-regulated countries, and the same from certain jurisdictions have been excluded due to concerns of roundtripping, Malhotra said, without naming the countries.

India has excluded investments from Mauritius, Singapore, and the Netherlands while granting exemptions from a new anti-abuse provision in the income tax law dealing with foreign investments into unlisted shares. The revenue secretary also said it is in the interest of gaming companies to follow goods and services tax (GST) law as the government sees it and pay 28% tax on the full value of bets. Field officers of the tax department are also expected to go by this understanding. The government's effort is to bring Central Goods and Services Tax Act amendments in the monsoon session of Parliament. Edited excerpts: