A month ahead of the Budget, Minister of State for Law Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday favoured "moderate" tax rates and further simplification of procedures while speeding up reforms to push up growth.
"What we need today is moderate tax rates, better administration and higher compliance. The 'Saral' form ought to be more saral (simple) as complexities create problems," Prasad told a Ficci seminar on taxation in New Delhi.
Another important aspect that government should keep in mind is that tax does "impinge" on corporates' productivity, he said.
The minister said tax systems should facilitate mergers and acquisitions among companies, reasrch and development and entrepreneurial activities.
Referring to reforms, he said "reforms should be at a speedy pace but with a human face."
Prasad said new legislations on competition, insolvency and money laundering were some of the measures that would speed up reforms.
Pointing to competition laws, he said "at one time size and dominance was a curse. Today, it is not. But abuse of dominance is wrong."
On insolvency laws, he said "the stress is that let sickness be detected at the earliest." The bill provided for a single window for redressing corporate sickness and an easy exit route.