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BJP rejects Kelkar proposals

New Delhi, January 5
Virtually rejecting the Kelkar committee recommendations, the BJP today favoured the retention of tax sops like interest reduction up to Rs 1.5 lakh, standard deduction and saving incentives.

A meeting of the party’s committee on the Kelkar recommendations held by general secretary Rajnath Singh to discuss the report, said the party was not in favour of taxing the agricultural sector, BJP sources said after the over two-hour meeting.

The committee which would be meeting again in a few days to finalise its report felt that the Kelkar proposals were “anti-middle class and anti-farmer”.

The committee would be giving its report to Finance Minister Jaswant Singh for incorporating the suggestions in the Budget.

“The party also sought tax break of up to Rs 1.5 lakh, interest on house tax be retained along with standard deduction and incentives for the small savings”, the sources said. The party also favoured doubling income tax exemption limit to Rs 1 lakh as the party manifesto had advocated it, they added.

While the BJP favoured most of the proposals in indirect taxes, including lowering of custom and excise rates, it was against removing the cess on petrol and diesel saying that the cess had helped a great deal in mobilising resources for the ambitious highway project of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

It said life insurance and provident fund could only provide long term loans which were required for long gestation investments in infrastructure. PTI