Measures half-hearted: Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: Reacting to the changes made in the Finance Bill on Friday, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the measures were half-hearted.

"The measures announced in the Finance Bill are half-hearted. The government is still not clear on what to tax and how to tax," Chaidambaram told reporters on the sidelines of CII''s national conference here.

Conceptually, either the dividend had to be taxed or distributed dividends have to taxed, he said.

Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha on Friday withdrew service tax on premiums charged by insurance companies and raised the income tax rebate on an income of Rs 1.5 -5 lakh, costing around Rs 2,850 crore to the exchequer.