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hardware and software sales. However, I wish there had been a reduction in
the excise and customs duty on hardware. That would have brought computers
within easy reach of the masses. While the Finance Minister has been very kind
to the software sector, he has tried to mop up some money from companies
which were EOU, STP units, but were selling in the domestic area. He has also
taxed some of the domestic IT-enabled services like on-line information and
database retrieval services. However, the export of IT-enabled services has been
spared from income tax.
The good news for telecom companies is that the government has allowed a 100
percent income tax deduction for Internet and Broadband service providers if they
set up units before March 31, 2003. Even after first five years, they will get a 30
percent deduction. This means more investment and more proliferation of Internet
and broadband.
Once again, this has been a great Budget for the software sector. The hardware
issues need to be resolved and probably will be taken care of in EXIM policy.
After all, S denotes both Sinha and Software Superpower!
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