Happy with SME sops, wanted more tax relief

FAMILY BACKGROUND: The family we talked to has four members – Harish Chandra Uniyal, his wife, and two kids. Harish owns an electronic manufacturing unit and also runs an events advertising agency along his wife, Jyoti Uniyal, who is a content writer. The family follows proper financial advice, has control over expenses, and has good savings.

EXPECTATIONS: The family said they were looking for a revision in tax slabs to save more money. Also, they were hoping for a cut in the service tax given the high cost of living.

BUDGET IMPACT: Harish is happy with the government’s focus on skilling. The Skill India Mission, launched in 2015 to maximise the potential of youth, will see the opening up of 100 India International Skill Centres. These are supposed to impart foreign language lessons to youths seeking opportunities outside the country. Harish thinks his electronics manufacturing business will benefit from this.

The cut in the tax rate on SMEs will benefit Indian companies. “This move will also benefit the Indian economy,” says Harish. The reduction in the tax rate from 8 per cent to 6 per cent for firms with turnover of up to Rs 2 crore will also bring more transparency in the MSME sector, he says. Harish is also pleased with the increase in allocations for schemes like the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme and the Electronic Development Fund as he is in the manufacturing business. He thinks the government should have also taken some initiative for individuals in the higher tax brackets. The family is happy to know that the service charge on online railway ticket booking has been waived off. Harish is not much into mobile wallets, but with the government pushing for digital transactions, and with the introduction of new schemes for cashless transactions and the

BHI Mapp, he says,“this is a great change; I will now start using the BHIM app.” By Priyadarshini Maji