Budget Wishlist Startups, Ecommerce & Corporates: wishlist/ expectation from Budget 2016-17

Recent government initiatives promoting startups and entrepreneurship culture in the country idea has a slew of start-up and established companies in the technology and e-commerce space excited. They all believe Budget 2016 will be the start of a new era of higher growth. We know that the government is focusing on promoting e-commerce, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Startups and companies from various sectors including travel, retail, transport, Online grocery have high hopes from the upcoming budget namely TravelTriangle.com ,Autoncab.com, 612 League, TirunTravel etc have high hopes from the upcoming Budget.

For instance, Finance Controller of TravelTriangle's , India's first comprehensive holiday marketplace, Mr. Yuvraj Khemani, , says "I expect the Government to bring forth a growth related budget for travel and tourism sectors. Its time that we rationalise the Tax situation for the industry. Firstly abolition of service tax which amounts to double taxation. Secondly minimum interference from the Government, they should play only the role of a facilitator for start ups in India. If start ups are exempted from direct and indirect taxes, this will help them to reduce compliance burden and cash outflows for for these new businesses would improve Budget 2015 was a big disappointment for middle class as without increase in the exemption limit, the increase in service tax from 12.36% to 14% increased the price-line resulting in lower cash-in hand of middle class people. This affected travel industry in 2015 due to expensive air-fares and travel packages even though Tourism industry got hike by 33% in budget.”

Mr. Kishore Ganji, CEO and Founder of Zip.in,online supermakret based out of Hyderabad, "E-commerce sector in India is growing at a very fast pace. While it holds much potential and promise, its success is still dependent on old laws, rules and regulations that hold it back. This is why players in the category are pinning up all our hopes on the Union Budget. For starters, we believe that a standard tax structure for online purchases is a must to create growth opportunities for start-ups and e-commerce platforms. Then, we’re hoping to see a relaxation in FDI norms that e-commerce players are currently battling with"

Ms. Vinti Dishi, CEO and Co Founder of Autoncab.com, a mobile app which provides on-demand, ultra-budget last mile connectivity to urban commuters, Says “There is a huge need in our country to address the issue of inadequate public transportation. Start-ups that are working in this space need some focused impetus in this Union Budget. We’d like to see policy measures that make availability of funds to this segment easier. In addition, we at AUTOnCAB would like to see a reduction in the service tax incidence on tech start-ups. This will greatly help start-ups survive the most challenging initial phases and enhance the viability of companies working in this space.”

Mr. Navneet Pratap Singh, CEO and Co Founder of GetcarXpert.com, a convenient, affordable and transparent online platform for high-quality car repair and maintenance services, says, "We are looking forward to the formal announcement of 3 years Income Tax Exemption for startups in the upcoming Budget. We also look forward to more clarity on the definition of a startup. Implementation of GST will be a major policy reform and will improve sentiments of the market & will inherently benefit startups. "

Mr. Manu Indrayan, CEO and Co Founder of 612 League, India’s first kids wear brand for pre-teen children "Last year’s budget fell short of expectations. This year, we have high expectations from the budget in particular and the government in general. To ease the movement of goods, the Government must roll out the much delayed GST and bring all taxes including service tax under its ambit. Some of the announcements we are awaiting in the budget speech of 2016 are reduced MAT rates, simplified corporate tax with reduced rates, disinvestment of loss making PSUs including Air India in line with government’s tated objectives of minimum government and maximum governance, increased savings limit to 80 C to encourage savings, increased spending on education and skill development, introduction of bankruptcy law, labour reforms to ease controls and restrictions in hiring and job terminations and FDI allowance to attract investments in retail infrastructure. Apart from all these, this year’s budget must also focus on the infrastructure of road, rail, ports and air, restructuring of the banking sector to re-ignite the lending cycle, increasing the personal income tax slabs and widening the tax ambit by including agriculture income."

Mr. Varun Chadha, COO, TIRUN Travel Marketing, the exclusive India Representative for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, says "As a citizen, I would like to see a wider tax net rather than a deeper one for individuals and corporates. The Income Tax Department's KPI’s need to change from revenue targets, as this tantamount to harassment."

Mr. Shailesh Mehta, CEO of , Joybynature.com, India’s largest marketplace for organic and natural products, was setup with aim to promote natural living in the country "Joybynature.com is the market leading platform in chemical free lifestyle. India is at the forefront of natural and organic way of living - from information, knowledge and product know-how perspective. So any SOPs for players in this industry which promotes chemical free living - tax exemptions, VAT reliefs etc, export SOPs - would go a long way in promoting the Indian treasure of nature led-wellbeing know-how and products not just domestically, but also globally. In the mid-to-long term, it will also help restore the ecological balance in the country."