The budget should cut corporate tax rates drastically



The Union Budget for 2017-18 is very likely to lower corporate tax rates. That is not only because of the faltering economy, but also because the finance minister had promised in his 2015 budget speech that corporate tax rate will be reduced from 30% to 25% over the next four years, together with the phasing out of exemptions and deductions. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has urged a reduction in the corporate tax rate to 18%. Is the industry lobby pushing its luck too far?