Budget expectations quote Puneet Maheshwari, Director, Upstox

“A prime focus of the 2023 budget may be to act on the several lessons and learnings that the previous year brought with it. Our industry is extremely dynamic and subject to the impact of a number of extrinsic factors. 

Just like our country’s vision of Make-In-India, from a broker’s perspective, the budget should also focus on Trade-In-India. The government should consider regulations that make trading and investing in India a seamless and rewarding journey.  From a trader/investor perspective, it will be beneficial to remove LTCG on equities, which is currently at 10% if the capital gain is more than ₹ 1 lakh in a financial year. It would also be ideal to introduce tax exemption on STCG up to ₹1 Lakh.  

In order to put more money in the hands of our people, the Government should also consider eliminating the tax on dividend payouts, lowering the tax bracket for investors, and increasing the basic tax exemption level from 2.5 lakhs to 5 lakhs or higher. More cash in the hands of the people will mean more money to invest. 

For the overall fintech industry too, which is growing rapidly, there needs to be a mandate to regulate and simplify taxation, like on ESOPs, and provision of incentives for adopting AI(Artificial Intelligence) and ML(Machine Learning).  Further, software products attract a GST of 18%. A reduction in GST will promote development of indigenous technologies by fintech players. Creation of fintech innovation funds will be another avenue to incentivise start-ups.

Broadly, the budget should not only be concerned with improving the country’s economy, but also take a comprehensive approach to enhancing economic conditions for every citizen. We expect this budget to favour the needs of industries across India’s economic spectrum, and look forward to seeing how it unfolds.”