India Inc favours lower corporate tax rate: Grant Thornton survey

MUMBAI: Nearly 81% of Indian corporates favour lowering of corporate tax rate in the country even if it means withdrawal of some tax deductions available at present, a global survey conducted by tax and advisory firm Grant Thornton has found.

Moreover, 44% of Indian businesses said they could consider moving their headquarters to another country for a reduction in corporate tax.

On the other hand, a majority of Indian companies - 68% of the respondents - believe that the government is doing enough with respect to tax measures to help ease economic pressures. ""This fact can be reiterated from the recently conducted Budget expectations survey where 93% of India Inc voiced that it does not expect any change in corporate taxes in the upcoming budget,"" noted the study. In contrast, globally, 61% of business leaders said they were not satisfied with the steps taken by their governments on this front.

The poll was conducted in November and December 2012, with 3,450 business respondents in 44 countries, Grant Thornton said in an official release.