The Govt. of India Budget presented in the floor of Parliament today by Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley announced a string of tax sops meant for India's 1stInternational Financial Services Centre (IFSC) which is currently under development at GIFT City.
Exemption from the commodity transaction tax.
The transaction of sale of equity shares or units of the equity oriented funds or units of a business trust which are undertaken through a recognised stock exchange established in the IFSC shall be exempt from the levy of securities transaction tax. The budget for 2016-2017 also proposes that long term capital gains arising from transfer of such assets shall be exempt from tax.
Similarly, exemption is proposed for the transaction in foreign currency of sale of the commodity derivatives undertaken on a recognised association in IFSC and such transaction shall not be liable to the statutory levy of commodity transaction tax.
These tax benefits are in supplement to the announcement by the Gujarat government providing exemption on the State levy of Stamp duty for share brokers.
Mr. Ajay Pandey MD & Group CEO of GIFT City feels that the Union Budget's regulations will speeden the development of IFSC in India. These incentives have been provided at a very critical time when the world economy is not in right shape and India still stands out as the bright spot in the world. Even though there is a slowdown in world economy, India is still registering a GDP growth rate of + 7%.