The Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday presented the sixth and the much awaited Union Budget of the Narendra Modi government in Lok Sabha. Goyal was appointed interim finance minister on January 23 with Arun Jaitley undergoing treatment. Here are some highlights from the Budget 2019 presented by Piyush Goyal.
A big announcement for MNREGA
Goyal announced to allocate ₹60,000 crore for MNREGA in the year 2019-20. He also announced 143 million LED bulbs to provide illumination to all houses and save electricity. Mr. Goyal promises to provide a home to all by 2022.
Farmers will be given 6,000 rupees in their accounts.
The Finance Minister announced in parliament a direct support ₹6,000 per hectare in farmer’s bank accounts directly. Prior to the election, ₹2,000 will be given as the first installment. This money will go into the accounts who own up to 2 hectares of land. This will benefit the families of 12 crore farmers. The scheme, which will be applicable from 01st December 2018 and will cost about ₹75,000 crore to our government. Also, interest on the loans given for animal husbandry and fishery care will be given 2% discount.
₹750 crore will be spent on Kamdhenu Scheme
The finance minister said during the presentation that our government always works for Gaw Sewa. ₹750 crore will be spent on Kamdhenu scheme.
Gratuity limit has been increased from ₹10 lakh to ₹30 lakh
Goyal announced “Gratuity limit has been increased from ₹10 lakh to ₹30 lakh. Prime Minister Shram Yogi Mudan (Mega Pension Scheme) has been started to give pension to people in the unorganized sector, contributing only 100 rupees per month. After giving the work, workers will get a pension of ₹3,000 after the age of 60. This will benefit 10 million workers in the unorganized sector. India will become the largest pension plan in the world of the unorganized sector”.
Estimates of the fiscal deficit this year will be 3.4 percent of GDP
The fiscal deficit in the current financial year 2018-19 will be 3.4% of the GDP. The current account deficit will be around two and a half percent of GDP this year. The last five years the country has received FDI worth $239 Billion.
Tax assessment processes will be modified
The Finance Minister said today “Do not go to offices for tax assessment now. IT returns will be processed in 24 hours.
If any notice comes manually to the assessee, he can write to department & officials to ask the information only through online mode which will result in the big opportunity for CAs to save time and manpower.
Within almost two years, almost all assessment and verification of IT returns will be done electronically by an anonymized tax system without any intervention by tax officials.
Income Tax free up to ₹5 lakh
The limit of income tax exemption has been increased from ₹2.5 lakh to ₹5 lakh. Now tax will not be levied to the income of five lakh rupees. No tax will be required to invest ₹1.5 lakh the in the provident fund or equity. If so, if a person’s income is ₹6.5 lakh and he invests ₹1.5 lakh rupees then he will not have to pay any kind of tax. Assessee must be clear that Income Slab has not changed. Rebate under section 87A has only been changed from ₹2,500/- to ₹12,500/-.
Simultaneously, standard deduction has been increased from ₹40,000 to ₹50,000 for salaried class people.
TDS limit on interest income increased to ₹40,000
Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday announced to increase the tax deduction limit on the income from interest of ₹10,000 to ₹40,000 per year. In case of senior citizens, the limit has been increased to ₹50,000. Presenting the Budget 2019-20 in the Lok Sabha, he said it will benefit the senior people and the small depositors who depend on the interests of deposits of banks and post offices. So, t
hese depositors could demand a refund of tax deducted at interest income up to ₹10,000 per year.
Few more points to be highlighted from the Budget 2019
● There will be a single window for approval for Indian filmmakers. Anti-camcording provision to be introduced to the Cinematography Act to combat film privacy.
● The vision for 5 lakh digital villages in next 5 years.
● More than ₹3 lakh crore has been announced for the defense sector.
● Those MSMEs who are registered with GST will get 2% interest relief.
● 26 weeks of maternity leave to empower women has been granted in this budget.
● Goyal said our government has delivered 6 crores free LPG connections under Ujjwala Scheme.
● PCA restriction has abolished from 3 major banks namely, BoI, BoM and OBC.
● 22nd AIIMS has to built-in Goyal’s home state Haryana.
● GST has been continuously reduced, resulting in relief of ₹80,000 crores to consumers; most items of daily use for the poor and middle class are now in the 0%-5% tax bracket.
● Benefits under Sec 80(i)BA being extended for one more year, for all housing projects approved till the end of 2019-2020.
● Businesses with less than ₹5 crore annual turnover, comprising over 90% of GST payers, will be allowed to return quarterly returns.
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