Ahead of Modi-Trump meet, India revamps tariff structure

Anticipating US action on tariffs, India seems to have made the first move by revamping its tariff structure by reducing the slabs to eight rates, points out Mukesh Butani.

IMAGE: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addresses a press conference, New Delhi, February 8, 2025. RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra is also present. Photograph: Shrikant Singh/ANI Photo

The spectre of an economic slowdown and the emergence of a new multilateral global order, where economies from the Global South have gained prominence, have led India to position itself as a curator of dedicated tax reforms.

Juxtaposed against this development is the re-election of Donald Trump, and the US’ proactive call for reduced tariffs.

The finance minister’s focus was clear: Reinvigorating discussions on the new tax code and reimagining our extant tariff structure to attract foreign direct investment (FDI).

With these central themes, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Budget with the aim of accelerating growth, bolstering investments, and ensuring inclusive development.

The Budget eve was filled with industry expectations, ranging from sectoral developments to simplification of tax regimes.

For FY 2025-26, the FM has proposed a total expenditure of over Rs 50.65 trillion to support infrastructure and job creation.

As a foundation for long-term transformations, the Budget proposes several key amendments to both the direct and indirect tax regimes.

In its quest to do so, it provides the blueprint for sustainability, certainty, simplicity and voluntary compliance.

Electronics, having been identified as “Industry 4.0”, attracts a huge pool of global investments.

A proposal has been made to bolster domestic manufacturing capabilities and better integrate the economy with global supply chains, wherein support would be provided to the domestic electronic equipment industries.

Lower Customs duties have been provided to manufacturers of Open Cell along with exemptions on 28 additional capital goods for mobile phone manufacturing.

On the direct tax front, a simplified presumptive taxation regime (with a bracket of 25 per cent deemed profit) is proposed for non-residents who provide services to domestic manufacturers.

However, it can be argued that the deemed profit rate is reasonably high. In a landmark move, a transfer pricing safe harbour is proposed for those storing components for supply to specified electronics manufacturing units.

A simplified transfer pricing mechanism is proposed as it has been an area where MNC’s have witnessed unprecedented disputes.

The domino effect of such changes, with extension of tax holidays to startups, shall provide a fillip to the dynamic electronics sector in India, propelled by a rapidly expanding young demographic, increased digitalisation, and an expansive net of disposable income.

It synchronises the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and NITI Aayog’s objectives of positioning India as the quintessential hub for global value chains and industrial behemoths.

Besides electronics design and manufacturing, the Budget has proposed a national framework to promote global capability centres (GCCs) in Tier 2 cities.

Such prescriptions must be backed by an extensive memorandum highlighting targeted tax incentives, and non-tax incentives to GCCs.

A bugbear for institutional investors and multinational enterprises looking to explore the Indian landscape had been the stoicism of India’s transfer pricing and non-resident tax regime.

To alleviate concerns, the Budget espouses streamlining the assessment mechanisms.

One, it proposes a scheme for determining arm’s length pricing of international transactions for a block period of three years, exercisable at the option of the assessee, which will avoid multiple annual assessments.

Two, to ease taxing burden, an impactful amendment has been proposed, wherein transactions with non-residents confined to the purchase of goods shall not constitute significant economic presence.

This amendment is a material relaxation from unwieldy drafting of law and is expected to reduce unnecessary litigation.

It serves as an indubitable intervention to align these segments, components, and subsystems of a global value chain (GVC) environment, and is a strategic move for targeted manufacturing and services sector.

Anticipating US action on tariffs, India seems to have made the first move by revamping its tariff structure by reducing the slabs to eight rates.

It further proposes to fully exempt critical minerals such as cobalt powder, lead, zinc and 12 other minerals.

These minerals are a key part of the India-US bilateral partnership, as evidenced by the Memorandum of Understanding on Critical Minerals signed in October 2024.

The move, billed as “friendshoring” in international diplomacy, signifies India’s embrace of a new era of development in technology and an unwavering commitment to cooperation and sustainability with its trade and investment partners.

The medium- to long-term impact of this change will unfold under the new administrative regime.

Mukesh Butani is with BMR Legal. Pranoy Goswami and Pratha Khanna contributed to this column

Disclaimer: These are Mukesh Butani’s personal views.

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com