Budget 2016: It also called for widening the individual tax payers' base as 85 percent of the economy remains outside the tax net despite the number of tax returns filed picking up since mid-1980s. As a step towards building fiscal capacity, the survey suggested that the easiest way to widen the tax base would be not to raise exemption thresholds, unlike in the past when they were raised much more rapidly than underlying income growth. Calling for a review and phasing out of the tax exemption raj that benefited the richer private sector, the survey recalled the promise of reducing corporate taxes to 25 percent from 30 percent and phasing out of exemptions, reasonable taxation of the better-off individuals in industry, services, real estate or agriculture. Economic Survey identified higher property tax rates with periodic updation to improve local government finances, discourage speculation in real estate sector and pave way for smart cities. Another alternative to fiscal consolidation will be to reduce subsidies to the well-off amounting to Rs 1 lakh crore by better targeting subsides to the poor. (Reuters)