Key Points Of Union Budget 2018-19

Union Budget Highlights 2018-19

• No changes in income tax slabs or rates: Finance Minister
• Personal Income Tax rates unchanged; Rs. 40k standard deduction in lieu of present exemption: FM
• Senior citizens can claim benefit of reduction Rs. 50,000/ year w.r.t any general health expenditure and health insurance premium: FM
• Rs 40,000 standard deduction to salaried people: FM
• Companies with turnover of upto Rs. 250 cr to be taxed at 25%: FM
• Made many positive changes in personal income tax rates in the past years; no change in Income Tax slabs this year : FM Arun Jaitley
• 100% tax deduction for first five years to companies registered as farmer producer companies with a turnover of Rs. 100 crore and above: FM
• 12.6% growth in direct taxes in 2017-18; 18.7% growth in indirect taxes in 2017-18: Finance Minister
• Revised fiscal deficit estimate for 2017-18 is 3.5% of GDP, fiscal deficit of 3.3% expected for 2018-19: FM
• MP salaries to be revised with effect from 1 April, 2018. It will increase every 5 years indexed to inflation: FM
• Emoluments of President to be revised to Rs 5 lakh per month and emoluments of Vice-president to be revised to Rs 4 lakh per month: FM
• Rs 80,000 crore disinvestment target for 2018-19; target for 2017-18 exceeded and will reach Rs 1 lakh crore: FM
• Regional Connectivity Scheme ‘UDAN’ shall connect 56 unserved airports and 31 helipads in the country: FM
• Mission on cyber space will be launched in support of establishment of centres of excellence: FM
• Railway stations with more than 25,000 footfalls will have escalators, trains will have WiFi and CCTV services: FM
• Ujjwala Yojana helped millions of poor get free LPG connection: FM
• Redevelopment of 600 major railway stations taken up; Mumbai transport system being expanded; suburban network of 160 km planned for Bengaluru: FM
• Cleaning of river Ganga is of national importance, have sanctioned 187 projects under Namami Gange scheme: FM
• Mass formalisation of MSME sector is happening after demonetisation and GST: FM
• Govt will contribute 12% of wages of new employees in EPF for all sectors for the next 3 years: FM
• 76% of loan accounts are of women and more than 50% belong to SC, ST and OBC under the Mudra Yojana. Rs 3 lakh crore will be lent under Mudra Yojana in 2018-19: FM
• 24 district level colleges will be upgraded: FM Arun Jaitley
• Air Pollution in Delhi NCR is a cause for concern, special scheme will be implemented to support Govts of Haryana, Punjab, UP and Delhi NCT to address it and subsidize machinery for management of crop residue: FM
• Govt plans to construct 2 crore more toilets under swachhbharat Mission: Finance Minister
• Govt. to initiate integration of B.Ed programme for teachers; Centre to start Eklavya schools for ST population: FM
• Govt to subsidise removal of crop residue to tackle problem of pollution due to burning of crop residue: FinMin
• Govt to set up fishery & aquaculture infrastructure fund; also to set up animal husbandry infrastructure fund with a total corpus of Rs. 10,000 crore
• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presents Budget 2018 in Parliament
• MSP of crops shall be increased to 1.5 times that of the production cost: FM Arun Jaitley in LokSabha
• Manufacturing sector is back on growth path; Exports are expected to grow by 15% in 2017-18 : Finance Minister
• With the introduction of the GST, the indirect tax system has been made simpler: FM
• We pledged to give India an honest and clean govt; we promised to reduce poverty and create strong and New India: FinMinIndia
• Govt has successfully implemented series of structural reforms as a result of which India is one of the fastest growing economies of the world
• FDI has gone up and it is easier to do business in India; Indian economy is now a 2.5 trillion economy: FinMin
• We hope to grow at 7.2% – 7.5% in second half of 2017-18; We are on track to grow at 8% and good governance is our priority: FM

Cash Transaction designed - Finance Minister

No Cash Transaction above Rs 3 lakh – FM

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

01-February-2017 13:57 IST

Budget gives a major push to Digital Economy; proposes No Cash Transaction above Rs 3 lakh

Government to launch schemes to promote BHIM app, Aadhar Enabled Payment System

Mission to be set-up to achieve a target of 2500 Cr digital transactions in 2017-18

Series of measures proposed to strengthen and regulate digital economy

In a bid to give a push to Digital Economy and weed-out corruption and black money, the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley in his Budget Speech today said that the Government has decided that no transaction above Rs 3 lakh will be permitted in cash. Accepting a suggestion by Special Investigation Team on Black Money to ban cash transactions above Rs 3 lakhs, the Finance Minister has proposed an amendment to the Income-tax Act in the Finance Bill.

Presenting the General Budget 2017-18 in the Parliament, the Finance Minister said that the Government will launch two new Schemes to promote the usage of BHIM App i.e, Referral Bonus Scheme for individuals and a Cashback Scheme for merchants. BHIM App was launched to promote digital transactions and will unleash the power of mobile phones for digital payments and financial inclusion, The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley informed the House that 125 lakh people have adopted the BHIM app so far.

The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley also announced that Aadhar Pay, a merchant version of Aadhar Enabled Payment System, will be launched shortly. This will be specifically beneficial for those who do not have debit cards, mobile wallets and mobile phones. A Mission will be set-up with a target of 2,500 crore digital transactions for 2017-18 through UPI, USSD, Aadhar Pay, IMPS and debit cards. Banks have targeted to introduce additional 10 lakh new PoS terminals by March 2017. They will be encouraged to introduce 20 lakh Aadhar based PoS by September 2017.

Highlighting the Government’s strategy to clean the system through digital economy, Shri Jaitley said that it has a transformative impact in terms of greater formalisation of the economy and mainstreaming of financial savings into the banking system. This, in turn, is expected to energise private investment in the country through lower cost of credit. India is now on the cusp of a massive digital revolution, he added. The Finance Minister said that a shift to digital payments has huge benefits for the common man. The earlier initiative of the Government to promote financial inclusion and the JAM trinity were important precursors to the current push for digital transactions, the Finance Minister added.

In a bid to incentivize the digital transactions, the Finance Minister Shri Jaitley proposed that the presumptive income tax for small and medium tax payers whose turn-over is up to Rs 2 crore will be reduced from the present 8% of their turnover which is counted as presumptive income to 6% in respect of turnover which is received by non-cash means. This benefit will be applicable for transactions undertaken in the current year also, he added.

The Finance Minister also proposed to limit the cash expenditure allowable as deduction, both for revenue as well as capital expenditure, up to Rs 10,000. Similarly, the limit of cash donation which can be received by a Charitable Trust is being reduced from Rs 10,000/- to Rs 2000/-.

To promote cashless transactions, the Finance Minister in the Budget has proposed to exempt BCD, Excise/CV duty and SAD on miniaturised POS card reader for m-POS, micro ATM standards version 1.5.1, Finger Print Readers/Scanners and Iris Scanners. He also proposed to exempt parts and components for manufacture of such devices, so as to encourage domestic manufacturing of these devices.

To strengthen and regulate the digital economy, the Finance Minister has proposed to create a Payments Regulatory Board in the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) by replacing the existing Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems. The Committee on Digital Payments constituted by the Department of Economic Affairs has recommended structural reforms in the payment eco system, including amendments to the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. The Government will undertake a comprehensive review of this Act and bring about appropriate amendments, Finance Minister added.

To strengthen the digital payment infrastructure and grievance handling mechanisms, the Finance Minister said in his Budget Speech that the focus would be on rural and semi urban areas through Post Offices, Fair Price Shops and Banking Correspondents. He added that steps would be taken to promote and possibly mandate petrol pumps, fertilizer depots, municipalities, Block offices, road transport offices, universities, colleges, hospitals and other institutions to have facilities for digital payments, including BHIM App. A proposal to mandate all the Government receipts through digital means, beyond a prescribed limit, is under consideration. The Government will strengthen the Financial Inclusion Fund to augment resources for taking up these initiatives, the Finance Minister added.

In his Budget Speech, the Finance Minister informed that increased digital transactions will enable small and micro enterprises to access formal credit. He said that the Government will encourage

SIDBI to refinance credit institutions which provide unsecured loans, at reasonable interest rates, to borrowers based on their transaction history.

The Finance Minister assured the House that the Government will consider and work with various stakeholders for early implementation of the interim recommendations of the Committee of Chief Ministers on digital transactions.

Shri Jaitley said that the Government is considering the option of amending the Negotiable Instruments Act to ensure that the payees of dishonoured cheques are able to realise the payments.

Budget Highlights of 2017-18

Highlights of Union Budget 2017-18

1. All taxpayers above 5 lakh rupees to get benefit of 12,500 rupees across the board: FM
2. 10% Surcharge on individuals with income between 50 lakh to 1 Crore: FM
3. Surcharge of 10% for individuals earning between Rs 50 lakh- 1 crore; Surcharge for incomes > Rs 1 crore at 15% to continue: FM
4. A single one-page form for filing IT returns for taxable income up to 5 lakh rupees: FM
5. Tax on income from 2.5 lakh to 5 lakh reduced from 10 per cent to 5 per cent: FM
6. Time period of revising tax return to be reduced to 12 months: FM
7. Amendment to RBI Act proposed to enable electoral bonds: FM
8. Political parties will be entitled to receive donations in cheque or digital payment, every political party to file IT returns: FM
9. Long-term capital gains tax on immovable property to apply after 2 years, instead of 3 years now: FM
10. Maximum amount of cash donation a political party can receive to be 2000 rupees from any one source: FM
11. Computer emergency response team to be established Cyber security: FM
12. Rate of growth in advance tax in personal income tax in last 3 quarters of this financial year is as high as 34.8%: FM
13. Basic customs duty on LNG to be reduced from 5% to 2.5%: FM
14. Tax rate for companies with an annual turnover up to 50 crores to be reduced to 25%, to strengthen MSME sector: FM
15. To make MSMEs more viable, income tax for smaller companies to be reduced: FM
16. Profit linked deduction available to Startups for 3 years out of 5 years will be available for 3 years out of 7 years
17. Capital gains tax to be exempted,for persons holding land from which land was pooled for creation of state capital of Telangana: FM
18. Thrust in budget are affordable housing, promote digital economy, bringing transparency in political funding: FM
19. We are committed to make our taxation rate reasonable,our tax admin more fair & expand the tax base of the country: FM
20. Only 1.72 lakh people show income above Rs 50 lakh: FM
21. 1.5 crore people show income between Rs 2.5-5 lakh; 52 lakh people between between Rs 5-10 lakh; 24 lakh above Rs 10 lakh: FM
22. 5 special tourism zones,anchored on SPV, to be set up; Incredible India II campaign to be launched across the world: FM
23. Revenue Deficit target at 1.9% of GDP: FM
24. Govt to commemorate Champaran Satyagraha centenary: FM
25. Fiscal deficit pegged at 3.2 percent of GDP: FM
26. Aadhar-enabled payment system AadharPay to be launched: FM
27. Defence allocation of Rs 2.74 lakh crore: FM
28. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras to be extended to more than 600 districts across the country: FM
29. Total allocation for infrastructure in Budget for Better India stands at a record level Rs 3,96,135 crore in 2017-18: FM
30. State run companies like IRCON and IRCTC to be listed in markets: FM

Source: http://www.newsonair.com/