Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the Joe Biden administration as well as the corporate giants of America have described the reforms of the Indian government as a very positive step. The Finance Minister said that companies in the US are very happy with the decision to do away with retrospective taxation.
In August, Parliament passed a bill that abolished retrospective taxation. Under this, the tax department was empowered to levy capital gains tax even in cases older than 50 years. After the repeal of this law, the government will now have to refund the amount collected from companies through retrospective taxation. For this, companies will also have to withdraw all legal cases against the government in such cases.
Sitharaman said that the reforms we have made, especially the decision to abolish the retrospective tax, the US administration has described as a very positive step. Sitharaman told the media on Friday at the end of her Washington DC leg of her US visit that the corporate world has also appreciated the decision.
From Washington, the Finance Minister will travel to New York where she will participate in discussions with the business community. After that, she will leave for India. Sitharaman started her one-week journey from Boston on Monday. Responding to a question on the trade deal with the US, Sitharaman said that I am looking at an investment promotion agreement. Both the countries want to carry forward the talks on this and want to complete it as soon as possible.
Sitharaman said that as far as the big issue of trade is concerned, the commerce ministry is working with its US counterpart on this. I am not deeply involved in this. This is Sitharaman's first visit to the US after the Covid-19 pandemic. Prior to this, as Minister of Commerce and Defense, she played a key role in India-US strategic relations.