The IT sector on Monday sought tax breaks and measures to combat visa restrictions to make the software industry more globally competitive at a pre-Budget meeting with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
“We discussed issues related to Place of Effective Management (POEM), service tax, and tax refunds,” Nasscom President R Chandrashekhar told reporters after the meeting.
This was the sixth pre-Budget meeting by the Finance Minister as he prepares for the Union Budget 2018-19 that is likely to be tabled on February 1.
Pointing out the recent protectionist and discriminatory policies by many countries, the IT sector also sought the government’s help to combat the Visa restrictions put on domestic software professionals.
They also sought reduction of the goods and services tax of 18 per cent on telecom services to 12 per cent.
Apart from Nasscom, sectoral bodies including the Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology, Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association of India and Electronic Industries Association of India also attended the meeting.
To boost the domestic IT sector and telecom manufacturing in the country, the representatives also sought imposition of duty on those technology and telecom products that are outside the purview of IT agreement signed by India.