Budget 2016: Mr Modi, make taxes simpler for us to do business says this start-up founder

As an entrepreneur, I hope to see a simplification of the tax structure, easing of statutory compliances and the move towards a liberal ecosystem that will help achieve the “Make In India” vision and encourage entrepreneurship.’

Here are three core areas that affect me as an entrepreneur and that I think the government should pay some heed to in Budget 2016-

· Simplified Tax Structure – At Hopscotch, we pay several taxes including customs duty, countervailing duty, special addition duty, service tax, octroi, VAT, stamp duty, and now, Swachh Bharat tax. These are not pass-through taxes and as a result, we are obliged to pass these costs onto the consumer. These processes are time and resource intensive and on both levels we would prefer using the same time and resources to focus on our customers

· Simplified Compliance Procedures – At Hopscotch, our marketing organization is a five-member team, while our accounting and compliance organization is a 20-member team. And yet, we struggle to keep up with all the regulations the government requires. The government’s quest for liberalization requires that they first liberalize our laws and then our markets. The former is harder to do but is the key to making India competitive

Image credit: Indiatimes

· Respect For Intellectual Property And Non-Competes - Hopscotch invests in three core areas - people, technology, and great merchandise design. These are assets that take time, effort, and investment to create. The legal framework currently fails to recognize intellectual property rights in technology and design.

(This article has been authored by Rahul Anand, CEO and co-founder, Hopscotch.in)

Image credit: Indiatimes