Raise wealth tax to 3%, demands Left

NEW DELHI: The growing billionaires club is on the Red watchlist. The Left wants the government to raise wealth tax from 1% to 3% and bring all urban and rural ���crorepatis��� into the wealth tax net.

So whatever chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee may say about West Bengal needing the Tata���s project, the Left���s customary ���don���t spare the rich��� approach figures stronger than ever in its resource molibisation demands.

The Left���s draft note on budget proposals for 2007-08 said the list of Indian billionaires shows that within a year, from August 2005, the wealth of the richest Indians grew by over Rs 32,000 crore, which is nearly 1% of India���s GDP.

���One wonders why in such a backdrop, the wealth tax collection of the government remained at a paltry Rs 265 crore in 2005-06, and exactly the same amount was budgeted for 2006-07,��� the Left Parties said in a joint budget wishlist.

Taxing the rich is the focus of the Left���s suggestions for mobilising resources for fulfiling NCMP promises. ���The budget should demonstrate a political will to mobilise resources, primarily through taxation of burgeoning corporate profits, capital gains and wealth.

The seriousness which the UPA government attached to the NCMP would be assessed in terms of the extent to which budget 2007-08 meets these objectives,��� the Left Parties said.

The finance ministry���s exercise of ���differentiating��� between traders and investors among the FIIs was dubbed as ���meaningless��� by the Left which has opposed low effective tax rate for FIIs as compared to Indian corporates.

The Left, which is seeking the reimposition of a long-term capital gains tax of 15%, is of the view that ���low��� rate of short-term capital gains tax at 10% and nil long-term capital gains tax was an ���open invitation for reckless speculative activities which stifle genuine entrepreneurship.���

The comrades reiterated their last year���s demand for a flat securities transaction rate of 0.1% on trading in all financial instruments, including equities, bonds, derivatives and government securities.

The Left���s proposals include a 14-point ���People���s Charter for Budget 2007-08��� which includes increasing customs duties on sectors being hit by cheap imports and reducing excise duties for Small Scale Industries. Besides this, the charter seeks the allocation of funds to meet NCMP commitments in the social sector.