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The Centre is working on the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill, but there is no timeline for it to be tabled in Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday.
Sitharman’s comments come on the back of an increase in deposit insurance from ₹1 lakh to ₹5 lakh and the recent changes in the insolvency laws that include insolvency solutions for financial institutions.
The late Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, had, in August 2017, introduced the FRDI Bill in the Lok Sabha. The Bill proposed a comprehensive resolution framework for revival or closure of financial institutions, including commercial banks, insurance companies, NBFCs and co-operative banks.
However, it was later withdrawn following concerns raised over the ‘bail-in’ clause. “We are working on the FRDI Bill, but not sure when it can get through the House,” Sitharaman said in an interactive session with media and industry in Mumbai.
New tax regime
Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary, said that the government expects about 80 per cent of individual tax-payers to benefit from the proposed new tax structure announced in the Union Budget.
The government had run simulation on 5.78 crore I-T returns filed in the last financial year to assess the impact of the new tax structure.
“Based on our simulation, it was found that 69 per cent of individual tax-payers would have saved up to ₹74,000 per head by shifting to the new tax regime,” Pande said.
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New I-T structure to benefit 80% individuals, says Revenue Secretary
Govt keen on exemption-free lower I-T regime, says Nirmala SitharamanHe added that the impact would be neutral on another 11 per cent of tax-payers who are expected to switch to the new tax structure as they do not have to take the trouble of offering proof of investments.
The Finance Minister said the practice of channelling investments into specific avenues for tax benefit has to end as individual tax-payers are smart enough to decide what is good for them (with or without tax-breaks).
The government is working on an exemption-free lower income tax structure that would benefit all, and the new tax regime is a preamble to this, she said.
On suggestions that the long-term capital gains tax be withdrawn, Sitharaman said since it was levied recently, there is no substantial trend to gauge whether the tax has benefited the exchequer; the government would wait before taking a determined view.
When questions where raised obout Indian promoters being taxed upwards of 50 per cent after shifting the dividend distribution tax to individual investors, Sitharaman said the move will benefit small investors who are on the lower tax bracket, more.
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