The Union Finance Minister presented his fifth Budget before the parliament today. The following are the major proposals from the Budget 2018.
- MSP for Agri Products @ 1.5% times market rate.
- No mention of Fuel Price.
- High allocation to boost banking Sector
- 5000 Crore for Operation Green to boost agriculture.
- Budget guided by mission to strengthen agriculture, rural development, health, education, employment, MSME, and infrastructure sectors
- Favorable taxation treatment to Farmers.
- Special scheme for Air pollution.
- 8 crore new gas connection for poor women.
- 10000 Crs for Fisheries & Animal Husbandry sectors
- Right to Education Act to amend to provide adequate training for teachers.
- Housing for All by 2022.
- 22,000 rural haats to be developed and upgraded into Gramin Agricultural Markets to protect the interests of 86% small and marginal farmers.
- National Health Protection Scheme to be introduced. World‟s largest Health Protection Scheme covering over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families launched with a family limit upto 5 lakh rupees for secondary and tertiary treatment.
- Ayshman Bharat Project for Health Promotion.
- 60 Cr Bank a/c to bring under jan Dhan Yojana.
- 1.38 Lakh Crore for Health Protection, Education & Social Protection.
- 3794 Crores to MSMEs.
- 3 lakh Crore for Mudra Banks.
- 6 lakh Credit through Mudra Loans.
- 1290 Cr for National Bamboo Scheme.
- EPF Act to amend to reduce contribution of women employees.
- 7100 Crore for Textile sector.
- Paid maternity leave for 26 weeks.
- 5 Lakh Health cover per Family.
- Optimal electrification of railway Networks
- 48 lakh for Rail projects
- 3073 Cr for Digital India.
- Loans to Women Self Help Groups will increase to Rs.75,000 crore in 2019 from 42,500 crores last year.
- Higher targets for Ujjwala, Saubhagya and Swachh Mission to cater to lower and middle class in providing free LPG connections, electricity and toilets.
- Tribal students to get Ekalavya Residential School in each tribal block by 2022.
- Welfare fund for SCs gets a boost.
- Rs. 5.97 lakh crore allocation for infrastructure
- Bitcoins under IT Scanner.
- 5 Lakh Health cover per Family per year as medical reimbursement under National Health Protection Scheme.
- Enterprises in India to have a Unique ID.
- India exceeded Disinvestment Target. Disinvestment crossed target of Rs 72,500 crore to reach Rs 1,00,000 crore.
- Growth rate of Direct taxes Increased.
Major Tax proposals
- FM Presents Tax proposals Now.
- Demonetization Impact: No. of Tax Payers Increased.
- Scheme to Improve Tax Compliance.
- 100 percent Tax Deduction to Co-oporative Societies.
- Deduction to New Employee u/s 80JJAA extended to Footwear and leather Industries.
- Incentives to MSME.
- Reduced Corporate Tax rate to Companies having Turnover up to 250 Crores
- Benefit to Women tax Payers.
- 40000 standard Deduction in lieu of basic Exemption for salaried class.
- Relief to Senior Citizens: Rs.50000 Deduction for Health Insurance Premium.
- Extra Benefit Tax Relief to Senior Citizens.
- No Change in Income Tax Slabs.
- Consideration on sale of securities upto 1 lakh under Long Term Capital Gain Tax.
- Standard deduction of Rs 40,000 for salaried employees in lieu of transport and medical expenses.
- Customs Duty on Mobile Phones increased to 20% from 15%
- Health & education Cess Increased to 4%.
- Pre-Notice Consultation to reduce Tax Litigation.
- Gain from Equity taxable at 15%.
- Fiscal Deficit pegged at 3.5 %, projected at 3.3 % for 2018-19.
- Tax on Long-Term Capital Gains exceeding Rs. 1 lakh at the rate of 10 percent, without allowing any indexation benefit
- Proposal to introduce tax on distributed income by equity-oriented mutual funds at the rate of 10 percent.
- Proposal to increase cess on personal income tax and corporation tax to 4 percent from present 3 percent.
- Proposal to roll out E-assessment across the country to almost eliminate person to person contact leading to greater efficiency and transparency in direct tax collection.
