Budget 2019 Highlights – petrol and diesel costlier, digital payments cheaper
Still amidst a global pandemic and faced with a shrinking GDP growth rate, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for the year 2021-2022. This year’s budget is guided by 6 main pillars:
a) Health and well-being, b) Physical and financial capital and infrastructure, c) Inclusive development of aspirational India, d) Reinvigorating human capital, e) Innovation and R&D, f) Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.
Here we summarize the key points included in this budget:
Budget 2021 Key Takeaways
- No change in personal income tax slabs
- Health budget increased by 137%
- ₹35K Crores allocated for Covid-19 Vaccination
- Custom duty on imports of Gold and Silver to be reduced
- Custom duty on mobile phone parts increased – duty on some parts increased from 0% to 2.5%
- Capital gains from listed securities, bank interest and dividend income will now be pre-populated at the time of filing taxes
- Voluntary vehicle scrapping policy announced – vehicles will have to undergo fitness tests at automated testing facilities every 15 years (for commercial vehicles) and every 20 years (for personal vehicles)
- ₹1.5L tax benefit for affordable home loans extended till March 2022
- ₹1500 Crore scheme announced to promote digital payments
- Two public sector banks, one general insurance company, Bharat Petroleum and some other PSUs to be privatised in the upcoming financial year
- 100 new Sainik schools to be setup, 750 Eklavya schools slated to open in tribal areas
- For businesses doing more than 95% of transactions through digital payments, the need for getting an audit done is waived off – provided the overall turnover does not exceed ₹10 crore in a financial year
- To reduce uncertainty, the time limit for reopening of income tax proceedings against tax evaders has been reduced from 6 years to 3 years
- Tax holiday for startups has been extended up to 31st March 2022
- Residents over 75 years of age, earning interest income or receiving pensions will be exempted from the need to file income tax returns
- FDI in Insurance sector increased from 49% to 74%
The entire text of the Budget 2021 speech is available here.
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