Corporate Tax to be Reduced to 25% by 2019: Arun Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has promised to bring in a rational tax rate for individuals and bring down the corporate tax to 25 per cent flat in four years beginning next fiscal. He also promised removal of exemptions except those that encourage individual savings.

Jaitley said the world needs "additional shoulders" other than China to push growth and this presents an opportunity for India.

He said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be a "top priority" and hoped to take the Bankruptcy Code to parliament in the winter session.

Starting with 2016-17 year, the corporate tax rate will be brought down to a 25 per cent flat corporate tax.

"Over the next four years this entire rate would come down to 25 per cent. And I will be removing each one of those exemptions one by one. I am shortly going to notify all the exemptions which are going to be rationalised this very year itself," he said.

Addressing students and faculty at the Columbia University, Mr Jaitley said along with a rational rate of taxation, more banking transactions and making PAN card compulsory for payments over a threshold limit will go a long way in tackling the problem of domestic black money.

He also said that once the corporate taxes go down, the exemptions, over there is a bulk of litigations and discretions will have to be phased out.