Budget 2017 Wishlist: Travel and tour operators seek tax sops for inbound tours

New Delhi: Expecting attractive sops from the impending union budget, travel and tour operators have asked the government to exempt service tax on foreign exchange earned on inbound tours in the upcoming Budget.

While seeking lower tax rate, the players also want the government to fix the GST rates for the sector after taking due consideration of the GST/VAT being levied by neighbouring countries.

"Travel and tourism is one of the highest foreign exchange earners for the country. The industry is expecting that there will be exemption of service tax on foreign exchange earned by tour operators for inbound tours," Cox & Kings Ltd CFO Anil Khandelwal told PTI.

He further said paying of double tax on outbound tours must be also ended.

Currently, an Indian customer pays double tax on outbound holidays for the overseas part of the trip due to service tax in India and also local GST/VAT of the visiting country, he said.

"The service tax/GST should be levied only on the Indian component of the tour," Khandelwal said.

Thomas Cook India Group Chairman and Managing Director Madhavan Menon said: "Strengthening 'Incredible India' brand through the creation of tourist circuits, key infrastructure and rail-roadways, is mission critical."

Effective marketing to position India as a top leisure and MICE destination is also of prime importance, he added.

With PTI Inputs