Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented his third budget today in what is being pegged as a pro-farmer, pro-poor and pro-reform budget. With no change at all in the personal and corporate tax slab, he described his three key priorities as: strengthening India’s firewalls by ensuring macroeconomic stability; promoting growth via domestic demand and formulation of economy friendly reforms.
He re-iterated that the Indian economy has grown by 7.6% in 2015-16 despite a slowdown in exports; however the risks of global turbulence might affect growth in 2016-17. In his 1 hour and 42 minute long speech, he covered nine prime pillars for all-round development, but we bring to you 5 key budget takeaways that will impact the youth.
1. Education:
- 10 public and 10 private institutions to be made into world class learning centres
- Entrepreneurship education to be provided in school, colleges and via online courses
- Digital literacy schemes to educate rural households across the country
- 500 crore scheme to promote entrepreneurship among SC/ST
- Aim to provide adequate skills to about 1 crore youth in the next 3 years under the PM Kaushal Vikas Yojna
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2. Tax Reforms:
- No change in personal and corporate income tax
- Relief to tax payers who earn less than Rs. 5 lakh – ceiling of rebate raised to Rs. 5,000 from Rs. 2,000
- Relief for people living in rented houses – deduction for rent paid to be increase to Rs. 60,000 from Rs. 20,000, thus reducing taxable income
- Start-ups to enjoy 100% tax exemption for upto 3 years, except for MAT which will apply from April 2016-19
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3. Infrastructure And Investment:
- A total of Rs. 2.18 trillion allocated for roads and railways
- 10,000 kms of new roads to be completed in 2016-17
- Shops to be given the options to stay o pen seven days a week
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4. Ease Of Doing Business:
- Introduction of Bill to amend the Company’s Act, enabling a more favorable environment for start-ups. The process of registration of a firm to be brought down to just one day.
- Create closer interaction between states and districts, rightly termed Ek Bharat, Shresth Bharat
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5. Purchase Of Goods:
Following are a list of items that have become more expensive:
Cars: A 1% additional tax on cars costing more than Rs. 10 lakh. Small cars too have a 1% infra cess levied on them
Cigarettes: 10-15% hike in excise duty on tobacco
Jewellery: A 1% excise duty has been levied on gold and diamond jewellery
Aerated drinks (Coke, Pepsi) and Mineral water will get costlier by 3%
Bills: Services like bill payments, eating out, air travel
Clothes: Ready-made garments and branded apparel of more than Rs 1,000
Additional: Goods and services above Rs 2 lakh in cash, Aluminum foil, Air travel, Ropeway, Cable car rides, Industrial solar water heater, Legal services, Lottery tickets, Traveling by hiring stage carriage, Hiring of packers & movers, E-reading devices, Instruments for VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), Imported Golf Cars and Gold bars
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Following are a list of items that have become cheaper:
Footwear, Solar lamps, Routers, Broadband modems and set top boxes, Digital video recorders and CCTV cameras, Hybrid electric vehicles, Sterilised dialyser, Low cost houses with less than 60 sq. mt. carpet area, Hiring of folk artists for performance, Refrigerated containers, Pension plans, Microwave ovens, Sanitary pads and Braille paper
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What is your opinion on Union Budget 2016-17? Will it be beneficial to the aam admi? Comment and let us know!
