Microsoft India on Friday said duties on computer hardware and peripherals should be reduced to accelerate PC penetration while continuing with the concessions like tax exemptions to the IT sector.
The concessions extended to the information technology sector under Sections 10A and 10 B of the Income-Tax Act should be continued, Ravi Venkatesan, chairman, Microsoft India, said in the company's pre-Budget memorandum.
"In order to accelerate PC penetration to address critical issues like the growing digital divide, tax incentives should be supportive towards reducing duties on computer hardware and peripherals, thereby making computers more accessible both to business and more importantly home users," he said.
Lauding the government's focus on education, he said, IT should be integrated as an important constituent in education to drive IT literacy and create job opportunities.
"Benign tax and policy regime is needed to protect the growth of the software companies focussing on the domestic market. We should not be a net exporter but also a gross user of IT," he said.