In recent times, India's tax laws have raised the hackles of domestic businesses as well as MNCs operating here. The bitterly contested Vodafone retrospective tax case is a prime example. The NDA government since coming to power has time and again assured corporates that India won't resort to retrospective taxation going ahead.
In Budget 2015, the government said it would start lowering corporate tax from 30 percent to 25 percent in a phased manned in the next four years. It also promised to remove exemptions currently extended to corporates. The government also said it does not plan to modify the sunset date, the date after which exemptions would cease to exist.
The government has also formed a panel to simplify tax laws and dump the Direct Tax Code (DTC).
In terms of personal taxation, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley did not make any big bang announcements in Budget 2015. However, he did offer additional deductions and exemptions to tax payers. Given the fiscal constraints, Jaitley may not be in a position to offer tax sops to corporates and individuals. But he may try and signal consistency and continuity on tax laws.