Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said on Monday the Budget “lacked flavour” and termed the tax proposals ‘regressive’. “There are Direct Tax concessions amounting to Rs 1,060 crore mostly due to Corporate Income Tax concessions, while indirect taxes worth Rs 20,670 crore have been levied, which come on top of the periodic increases in central excise levies on petroleum products which have seen an overall increase in yield of more than 90 per cent in the first ten months of the current fiscal year as per the Economic Survey. This is a regressive approach which cannot be supported,” said the AIADMK leader.
She said the Budget also lacked flavour as it does not have any specific announcements of schemes which would have enthused different segments, including the States.
Jayalalitha decried the cesses and surcharges on various items of central taxes which were not shareable with the States.