A friendlier tax regime, exorcism of the retro tax ghost and higher FDI limits for defence and insurance sector - these are some of the hopes that the global investors wish turn into reality when finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the union budget in less than three weeks.

Remember, the government has suffered two major setbacks in the Cairn Energy and Vodafone tax arbitration awards in the last year. Both these cases are a fallout of the controversial retrospective amendment made to the tax laws in 2011.

Global investors would be expecting that the centre finally bury the issue of retrospective taxation for good. This, they feel would send a positive signal.

The 2 percent tax imposed by the government on non-resident e-commerce companies, also known as the ''Google Tax'' has also been a major bone of contention. Last week, the USTR in a report slammed India for the equalisation levy, and called it discriminatory.

India on its part has said that its aim was to ensure a level playing field between local and foreign e-commerce companies, that the tax does not discriminate against any US company, and that it has no retrospective element.

So, would this budget finally see the government addressing the global investing communities concerns? Or does the government have too much on its hands right now to pay heed? To discuss this, Shereen Bhan spoke to Richard M Rossow, senior advisor at CSIS; Mukesh Aghi, president of USISPF and Jayant Krishna, group CEO of UKIBC.

Watch video for more.

(Edited by : Aditi Gautam)

First Published:Jan 11, 2021 7:20 PM IST