On February 1, the Press Information Bureau’s fact-checking arm debunked NDTV’s claims that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a reduction of corporate tax from 18% to 15%.
Fake news is being spread about reduction of Corporate tax in the Budget. #PIBFactCheck
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) February 1, 2022
▶️ Government has proposed to reduce the Alternate Minimum Tax rate for co-operative societies to 15% from the current 18.5%. pic.twitter.com/FVvUjU2zaD
In a tweet, PIB Fact Check said, “Fake news is being spread about reduction of Corporate tax in the Budget. The government has proposed to reduce the Alternate Minimum Tax rate for cooperative societies to 15% from the current 18.5%.”
NDTV claimed corporate tax reduced during the live telecast
News channel NDTV’s screenshot was shared by PIB in the tweet while debunking the claim. The budget speech that NDTV telecasted live on Tuesday is available on its YouTube channel. At the 1:16 timestamp, the misleading note that NDTV ran is still available in the video.
What did FM announce?
During her speech, FM Sitharaman said, “Currently, cooperative societies are required to pay Alternate Minimum Tax at the rate of eighteen and one half per cent. However, companies pay the same at the rate of fifteen per cent. To provide a level playing field between co-operative societies and companies, I, propose to reduce this rate for the cooperative societies also to fifteen per cent.”
What is AMT?
AMT or Alternate Minimum Tax is the minimum tax that cooperative societies have to pay if they claim profit-linked deductions in a financial year where the normal tax payable is less than AMT. It works on the same principle as Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) that is applicable for companies. Earlier, the AMT for cooperative societies was 18.5%, which has been reduced to 15%.
