Union Budget 2013: FM shoots black buck, only maims

NEW DELHI: Black money was a grey area in the FM’s speech.
Chidambaram neither mentioned black money nor did he speak on the study carried out by government-sponsored think-tanks to estimate the extent of this vast wealth. But he did announce administrative measures that would help curb generation of black money — expand the scope of annual information returns, extend e-payment facility through more banks and make e-filing mandatory for more categories.
He said transactions in immovable properties are usually undervalued and underreported and that half of all such transactions do not carry the PAN of parties concerned. “With a view to improve the reporting of such transactions and taxation of capital gains, I propose to apply TDS at the rate of 1% on value of the transfer of immovable property where the consideration exceeds Rs 50 lakh,” he said. Agricultural land has been exempted from this.
To plug loopholes in tax avoidance — such as unlisted companies avoiding dividend distribution tax by arrangements involving buyback of shares — the FM proposed to levy a final withholding tax at 20% on profits distributed by unlisted companies to shareholders through buyback. He also plans to hike tax on payments by royalty and fees for technical services to non-residents to 25%.
Union Budget 2013 > Budget news 2013 > Economic Survey