Four years of Modi government — Finance: Tax net widened; private funds still elusive
Summary
Direct tax collections hit the landmark figure of Rs 10.02 lakh crore in 2017-18, 18 per cent higher than the previous financial year. * Announced consolidation of 44 labour laws into four codes – industrial relations, wages, social security, and occupational safety, health and working conditions. Amid opposition from trade unions, the government so far has only been able to introduce the Code on Wages Bill in Lok Sabha in August last year. * Bringing petroleum products and real estate under the GST is a distant target, as both the Centre and states do not seen keen on losing control over these key revenue sources. So we hope and we think even if the prices remain somewhat elevated, we might and we should see a very strong growth in economy” Anand Sharma, Congress leader: “Govt has made nearly `10 lakh cr via cess and duties on petroleum products and it is profit at the cost of consumers….. It’s due to wrong decisions like demonetisation, due to which thousands lost their jobs and then came the GST blunder…” 📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram.