Techies’ angel! Rahul Gandhi wants to scrap tax

Bengaluru: In a move that is aimed at winning brownie points in India's tech capital which has seen start-ups begun by enthusiastic millennials run aground in the face of stepped up IT investigation into the angel tax –  the 30.9 % tax levied on investments made by external investors in startups or companies – Congress President Rahul Gandhi Monday said that the dreaded angel tax goes counter to the philosophy of startups and his party would get rid of it on coming to power.

Striking at the heart of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's much touted 'Make in India' which has been stymied by IT scrutiny on investment, the Congress chief, speaking to a gathering of entrepreneurs at Manyata tech park here said, "I have been informed about the angel tax and angel tax goes counter to the philosophy of startups...we are going to get rid of this tax. When we come to power, we will scrap it...you can call me on that one."   

To a question on GST by a participant, Mr. Gandhi was equally scathing, calling it a "disaster", saying the Congress, on coming to power, will work to give "one GST", which is simple and lowest tax possible.

Stating that the Congress had come up with the idea of the Goods and Services Tax with an aim to simplify things, he said the current government launched it in a hurry.

“Frankly it is a disaster. The definition of GST is one tax, so even though this government calls it a GST, it is not. It is five different layers of taxes and it is counter productive," he said. "We are pretty clear we are going to get rid of this GST, we are going to reform it and we are going to work to give one GST, which is simple and lowest tax possible,” he said.

Also noting that the existing GST leaves out huge chunks of the Indian economy, he said some of those things are going to be brought into it.

“It is perfectly doable...” he said, adding that GST was a "self inflicted" wound by the current government and it has had a devastating effect, very much like demonetisation.

To a question on the eCommerce policy, Mr. Gandhi conceded that he had not gone into the details of the policy, but promised to look into it on coming to power. “I have been given a little bit of a briefing on it. I think there are issues with warehousing in the policy, that I have been told about.

There is a balance that has to be created between the large and small players...I don't know how the policy creates the balance, but I think we would think about in terms of being fair to all the stakeholders,” he added.

Mr Gandhi said, "Skill exists all over the country. We just need fine tune this as there is no limitation to skill. But what we lack is its accessibility. We do not hone these skills into something productive. What we need is fine tuning of policies that we need to make accessible to every youth in the country.” He pointed out that the Congress  had never ignored informal sector, where many jobs can be created. “The 'white' revolution that was launched couple of decades ago in Gujarat is a case in a point, that how the Congress created opportunities even in informal sector by harnessing skills and making skills accessible to everyone in that region,”  he said. He said Bengaluru is another example where skill is made available to everyone. Bengaluru has become a start-up hub as well as a job hub in the country.