What Budget 2019 did not have for startups

While the angel tax issue was largely resolved in Budget 2019, other important issues largely remained unaddressed by the Finance Minister, according to industry experts.

Here's a quick roundup of demands raised by startups that weren't addressed in the Budget:

Relief under GST

- Many startups have been facing a significant cash crunch under the GST regime and were demanding a refund on input tax credit since their costs usually are much higher than their revenues. Startups also wanted TDS refunds to be processed.

ESOPs - Esops still continue to be a crucial instrument for startups to hire top talent from the industry, and they were seeking rationalization on taxation on ESOPs and wanted ESOPs to be taxed on the sale date, not the exercise date. But there was no mention of this in the Budget dossier.

Startup Fund of Funds - There was no mention of the Rs 20,000 crore Startup Fund as was expected from the Budget.

Integration- Startups wanted integration between the DPIIT and the CBDT on resolving angel tax​, which was not mentioned.