Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the country’s general budget (Aam Budget 2023) in Parliament on Wednesday. The Finance Minister said that the Indian economy is a shining star. Making a big announcement, the Finance Minister said that till the income of 7 lakhs, no tax will be levied.
The FM also reduced the number of tax slabs in the new tax regime. They are as follows:
Under the new tax regime, the income of Rs 0-3 lakh is nil.
Income above Rs 3 lakh and up to Rs 5 lakh to be taxed at 5% under new regime.
Income of above Rs 6 lakh and up to Rs 9 lakh to be taxed at 10% under new regime.
Income above Rs 12 lakh and up to Rs 15 lakh to be taxed at 20% under new regime.
Income above Rs 15 lakh to be taxed at Rs 30%.
What is cheaper, and what is costlier?
CHEAPER
Chimneys’ heat coil
Parts of open cells of TV panels
Import of certain inputs for mobile phone manufacturing
Govt to reduce customs duty on shrimp feed to promote exports
Seeds used in the manufacturing of lab-grown diamonds.
Govt to reduce customs duty on shrimp feed to promote exports
COSTLIER
Gold, Silver and Diamonds
Gold bars
Cigarettes
Kitchen electric chimney
Rubber
PAN to be common business identifier
The Finance Minister said that PAN will now be known as the National Identity Card. The Permanent Account Number (PAN) will be made as a single business identifier for all digital systems of all specified departments of the government. This is expected to ease the compliance burden of businesses. Using the unique identifier PAN, the common information and documents could be auto-fetched across systems.
Intention to bring the fiscal deficit below 4.5% of GDP by 2025-26
FM said, the government has estimated the fiscal deficit for 2023-24 at 5.9 percent of the GDP. She added that the government remains committed to bringing the fiscal deficit down to 4.5 percent of the GDP by 2025-26. The capital investment outlay has been increased by 33 percent to Rs 10 lakh crore, which will account for 3.3 percent of the GDP.
Interest-Free Loan to state
In a boost for states, the FM said that the 50-year interest-free loan to state governments will continue for a year more. The NITI Aayog’s state support mission will be continued for three years, she added.
100 labs for developing apps using 5G services
The Finance Minister said that 100 labs for developing apps using 5G services will be set up in engineering institutions. “To realise new range of opportunities, business models & employment potential, labs will cover among others, apps like Smart Classrooms, Precision Farming, Intelligent Transports Systems & Healthcare,” she added.
The Finance Minister further said that the efforts of the government since 2014 have improved the lives of all citizens. The per capita income has more than doubled to Rs 1.97 lakh. In these 9 years Indian economy has moved from 10th to 5th position in size.
The finance minister announced that an agriculture fund would be created to encourage agri-startups by young entrepreneurs. At the same time, work will be done on mission mode to promote tourism.
Due to the Lok Sabha elections next year, this budget is considered very important for the Modi government. With this being the last full budget of the Modi government before the general elections, people and the corporate sector too have high expectations from it.
