A.
DIRECT TAXES
INDIVIDUALS / HUF / AOP
/ BOI
Ø
Income
Upto Rs. 5 Lakh Exempt from taxation.
Ø
Additional
income tax deduction of Rs 1.5 lakh on the interest paid on loans for Electronic
Vehicles.
Ø
Propose
to extend period of exemption of capital gains arising from sale of residential
house for investment in startups to 31-3-2021.
Ø
Additional
deduction of Rs. 1.50 lakh for interest paid on home loan is proposed for
purchase of an affordable house valued up to Rs. 45 lakh.
Ø
Proposal
to enhance surcharge on individual income of Rs 2-5 crore and over Rs 5 crore
by 3% and 7% respectively.
Ø
Additional
income tax deduction of up to Rs. 2.5 lakhs is proposed on payment of interest
on loan taken to purchase electronic vehicles.
CORPORATES,
INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS / NRI / FOREIGN TAXATION OTHER PROVISIONS & OTHER
MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Ø
Companies
with turnover of up to Rs. 400 crore to be taxed at 25 per cent.
Ø Proposal of TDS of 2% on cash
withdrawal of Rs. 1 crore in a year from bank account.
Ø Faceless assessment in electronic
mode without human interface has been launched this year.
Ø Proposal to exempt business
establishments with annual turnover of up to Rs. 50 crores from any charges or
merchant discount rate levied for accepting digital payment.
Ø To resolve the so-called “Angel Tax
issue”, the startups and their investors who file requisite declarations & provide
information in their returns will not be subjected to any kind of scrutiny in
respect of valuations of share premiums.
Ø Relaxed norms for set off and carry forward of
losses for start-ups have been proposed.
Ø Additional Tax benefits to GIFT [Gujarat International
Finance Tech City] like several direct
tax incentives to an IFSC including 100 % profit-linked deduction under section
80-LA in any ten-year block within a fifteen-year period, exemption from
dividend distribution tax from current and accumulated income to companies
and mutual funds, exemptions on capital gain to Category-III AIF and interest
payment on loan taken from non-residents.
Ø Relief in levy of Securities Transaction Tax (STT)
by restricting it only to the difference between settlement and strike price in
case of exercise of options.
Ø Proposal to make PAN and Aadhaar interchangeable
and allow those who do not have PAN to file Income Tax returns by simply
quoting their Aadhaar number and also use it wherever they are required to
quote PAN.
Ø Pre-filled tax returns will be made available to
taxpayers which will contain details of salary income, capital gains from
securities, bank interests, and dividends etc and tax deductions.
B.
INDIRECT
TAXES:
Ø Taxpayers with
an annual turnover of less than Rs 5 crores will have to file only quarterly
GST returns.
Ø Lower GST rate
on electric vehicle from 12% to 5% is proposed before GST Council.
Ø Import of
defence equipment is exempted from Basic Custom Duty.
Ø Propose to
increase special additional duty and road and infrastructure cess on diesel and
petrol by Re 1.
Ø Customs duty
being exempted on certain parts of EVs.
Ø A Legacy
dispute resolution scheme to resolve VAT/service tax issues.
Ø Basic customs
duty is being increased on items such as cashew kernels, PVC, Vinyl flooring,
tiles, metal fittings, mountings for furniture, auto parts, certain kinds of
synthetic rubbers, marble slabs, optical fibre cable, CCTV camera, IP camera,
digital and network video recorders etc.
C.
ECONOMY /
INVESTMENTS / EXPENDITURES / OTHERS / HIGHLIGHTS :
Average amount spent on food security per year
approx. doubled during 2014-19 compared to preceding five years,
The Indian economy will grow to become a $3
trillion economy in the current year itself. It is now the sixth largest in the
world. Five years ago it was at the 11th position. From 1.85 trillion dollars
in 2014, the economy has reached 2.7 trillion US dollars; we can very well
reach 5 trillion dollars in the next few years.
Incentives for faster adoption of electric vehicle
is next target of Govt.
210 Kms of metro lines have been operationalized in
2019 and new metro rail project for 300 Kms have been approved.
Bharatmala Scheme enhanced development of roadways
in India
‘One Nation One Grid’ to ensure power availability
of electricity in India
Govt will create a payment platform for MSMEs to
enable filing of bills and payment on the platform itself.
A modern tenancy law will be finalized and given to
the states
It is proposed that several reform measures will be
taken up to promote rental housing.
The govt launched UDAY in 2015 for financial and
operational turnaround of discoms. We are analyzing the scheme and plan to
improve it further.
It is proposed to use Public-Private partnership to
unleash faster development.
100% FDI will be permitted for insurance
intermediary.
FDI inflows have remained robust despite global
headwinds. India's FDI inflows remained strong despite global slippages. We saw
a 6% y-o-y growth in foreign investment.
As key source of capital to Indian economy, it is
important to ensure hassle-free experience to foreign portfolio investors. Plan
to streamline KYC to make it more investor-friendly.
For Pradhan Mantri Karam Yogi Maang Dal scheme, one
will require only Aadhaar and bank account.
Several reforms would be undertaken to promote
rental housing, current rental laws are archaic as they do not address
lessor-lessee relationships fairly.
India has emerged as a major space power. Time has
come to harness this ability commercially. New Space India Limited, a public
sector enterprise, has been incorporated to tap the benefits of R&D carried
out by Isro. The company will spearhead commercialization of various space
products.
Pension benefit to be extended to around 3 crore
retail traders and shopkeepers with an annual turnover less than 1.5 crores
under Pradhan Mantri Karam Yogi Man Dhan Scheme.
Social Stock Exchange under SEBI proposed
NRI investment in Indian capital market is less. Proposal
to merge the NRI portfolio investment scheme route with FPI route.
Proposal for social stock exchange for raising
funds via equity and debt instruments
Local sourcing norms will be eased for the FDI in
single brand retail sector.
NRI investment in Indian capital market is less. Proposal
to merge the NRI portfolio investment scheme route with FPI route.
Credit Guarantee Enhancement Corporation will be
set up in 2019-20, with an action plan to deepen markets for long-term bonds
with specific focus on infra sector to be put in place.
Pension benefit to be extended to around 3
crore retail traders and shopkeepers with an annual turnover less than Rs 1.5
crores under the Pradhan Mantri Karam Yogi Man Dhan Scheme.
Govt to ease up FDI regulations for various sectors
like media, insurance & others
By 2022 every single rural family except those who
are unwilling to take the connection, will have electricity and clean cooking
facility.
The department of fisheries will address critical
gaps in the value chain, including production, quality control, post-harvest
management, etc.
1.95 crore houses proposed to be provided under
PMAY Grameen by 2021
To deepen corporate tri-party repo market in
corporate debt securities, government will work with regulators RBI & SEBI
to enable stock exchanges to allow AA rated bonds as collaterals.
1.25 lakh kilometers of roads will be upgraded.
Local sourcing norms for FDI to be eased for
single-brand retailing sector.
Jal ministry to focus on providing adequate
drinking water, which is a primary area of concern. We seek to provide water to
all rural households under 'har ghar jal.
Steps such as these will help double farmers'
income by 2022.
Interoperability of RBI depositories and SEBI
depositories necessary for seamlesss transfer of treasury bills; govt. will
take necessary measures in this regard in consultation with RBI and SEBI.
Under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna - Urban, over 80 lakh
houses have been sanctioned.
A Gandhipedia is being developed to sensitize youth
and society at large on positive Gandhian values.
New Space India Limited (NSIL) has been
incorporated to tap benefits of ISRO. It will help harness India's space
ability commercially: Nirmala Sitharaman.
India has emerged as a major space power. It is
time to harness our ability commercially. To harness India's space ability
commercially, a public sector enterprise, New Space India Limited has been
incorporated to tap benefits of the Indian Space Research Organisation.
A New National Education Policy to be brought to
transform Education system with better governance & promote research.
None of our technological institutions were in top
200 in 2014. But now, there are five in the list.
To upgrade level of teaching, Gian initiative was
started. It was a roadmap to counter challenges.
80 business incubators and 20 technology business
incubators to be set up in 2019-20 under ASPIRE to develop 75,000 skilled
entrepreneurs in Agro-Rural Industries.
10 million youth to take up industrial training
under PMKVY.
FAME II scheme aims to provide necessary charging
infra and encourage faster adoption of electric vehicles for the common man.
Will invest widely in agricultural infrastructure.
We will support private entrepreneurship in driving value addition to farmers
produce and those from allied activities too, like bamboo, timber and also for
generating renewable energy. Annadaata ko kyun oorja daata bana
nahi sakte
?,
Electronic Fundraising Platform, a social stock
exchange, to be set up to list social enterprises and voluntary organizations
working for social welfare objectives.
Under Pradhan Mantri Grameen Digital Saksharata
Abhiyan, BharatNet is targeting internet connectivity in local bodies in every
panchayat in the country; this will be speeded up under the Universal Service
Obligation Fund.
35 crore LED bulbs distributed under the Ujjwala
scheme, leading to a cost saving of Rs 18,341 crore annually.
Govt to increase focus on new-age skills like AI,
Virtual Reality & Big Data.
The Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan Dhan Yojana of
providing Rs 3,000 per month - nearly 30 lakhs workers have joined the scheme.
Propose to consider issuing Aadhaar to NRIs with
Indian passports after their arrival in India without the mandatory wait of 180
days.
Under PMAY (Urban), over 81 lakh houses with
investment of about Rs 4.83 lakh cr have been sanctioned of which construction
has started in about 47 Lakh houses. Over 26 Lakh houses have been completed of
which nearly 24 Lakh houses have been delivered, to beneficiaries.
To popularize sports at all levels, National Sports
Education Board for development of sportspersons to be set up under Khelo India.
Govt to develop 17 world class iconic tourism sites.
PSBs are now proposed to be further provided Rs
17,000 crore of capital to boost credit.
Ease of Living: Door-step banking & online
personal loans are proposed
NBFCs are playing importation role in the economy;
Rs. 1 lakh crore to be provided as credit guarantee for purchase of high rated
pooled assets.
For purchase of high-rated pooled assets of
financially sound NBFCs amounting to a total of Rs 1 lakh crore, govt will
provide a one-time six-month partial credit guarantee to PSBs for first loss up
to 10%.
Govt proposes to return the regulation authority
over housing finance sector from National Housing Board to the RBI.
Exclusive TV programme exclusively for startups to
be started, channel will be designed and executed by startups themselves.
Further encourage women entrepreneurship, Women SHG
Interest Subvention Programme to be expanded to all districts in India.
Every verified woman SHG member having a Jan Dhan
account, an overdraft of Rs 5000 will be allowed. One woman in every SHG shall
be made eligible for a loan of Rs 1 lakh under MUDRA scheme.
To improve capital flow in economy, Govt will do
strategic disinvestment.
Regulation of Housing Finance is proposed to be
shifted to RBI from NHB.
Mission for integrating traditional artisans and
their creative products with global markets to be launched; patents and
Geographical Indications to be obtained for them where necessary
India's sovereign external debt to GDP is amongst the
lowest globally at less than 5%.
A new series of coins easily identifiable to the
visually impaired shall be released for public use shortly.
Income-tax has increased by over 78% from Rs. 6.38
lakh crores in FY 2013-14 to Rs. 11.37 lakh crores in FY 2018-19.
By CA BIKASH BOGI