Mr. Hanuman Tripathi, Founder, Infrasoft Technologies Limited

1. There is an ongoing controversy of taxation on packaged software solution in India regarding a component of VAT which is applicable for license sale and a component of Service Tax that is applicable on implementation & support services of packaged software. There is also confusion with regards to government wanting to apply excise duty on domestically produced software and custom duty on imported software. We also keep getting enquiries from local Octroi authorities, besides getting demands from Octroi department stating that software is a ‘GOOD’ and it has to be charged with Octroi. All this is harassment of the IT industry which has contributed significantly to the country’s growth & fame in the last 10 years. This must be sorted as an important tax regime very quickly. A standardized GST on all these items will resolve all the problems. The Central Government should give clear directives to Excise Department and State Government on not creating their own interpretation of what is software and what are finished goods. 2. Space in STP/SEZs should be made available at discounted rates, to mid size/mid cap companies who already don't have a software factory in a STP/SEZ. This will create large delivery capacity at lower real estate costs. Rapidly rising real estate costs in all large Indian cities threatens to become a deterrent in India's software industry competitive advantage soon. 3. Government should give some kind of export incentives for mid-sized and small companies. 4. Government should also incentivize people working in Financial Inclusion space as they are going to contribute to the vertical growth in a very big way in areas of removal of poverty and illiteracy from the face of the country and help in creating a transparent census. Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely of the author and not that of the company. Both, the author and the company cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the information