Budget 2018
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's delivered this government's fifth and last full Budget amid subdued economic growth, challenging fiscal situation and farm distress. What makes it all the more important is the upcoming elections in eight states this year and the Lok Sabha election next year, all of which put tough demands on him. How has Jaitley managed to balance populist demands, the need to support economic growth and PM Modi's focus on fiscal discipline and reforms? Read the highlights from from Budget 2018 below to find out:
Fiscal Situation
• Fiscal deficit is 3.5% of GDP at Rs 5.95 lakh crore in 2017-18. Projecting fiscal deficit to be 3.3% of GDP in the next fiscal
• Rs 21.57 lakh crores transferred as net GST to states against a projection of Rs 21.47 lakh crores
Tax
• 85.51 lakh new tax payers filed income tax returns in FY17
• NO PERSONAL INCOME TAX CHANGES PROPOSED IN BUDGET
• Growth in direct taxes (till Jan 15) is 18.7 %
• Surcharge of 10 pc on income above Rs 50 lakh but less than Rs 1 cr to be continued next year; 15 pc on income above Rs 1 cr to also continue.
• 100% tax deduction is allowed to co-operative societies
• Corporate Tax of 25% extended to companies with turnover up to Rs 250 cr in financial year 201617
• Incentives for Senior citizens: Exemptions in income of Rs 10,000 from Banks FD and post offices
• Senior citizens to get Rs 50,000 per annum exemption for medical insurance under Sec 80D
• Rs 7.5 lakh per senior citizen limit for investment in interest- bearing LIC schemes doubled to Rs 15 lakh
• Standard deduction of Rs 40,000 allowed for transport, medical reimbursement for salaried tax payers
• Govt to reduce hardships faced in realty deals; no adjustment to be made in case circle rate does not exceed 5 pc of sale consideration
• Rs 8,000 crore revenue lost due to standard deduction allowed to salaried employees
• Rs 7,000 cr revenue forgone on account of lower corporate tax for Rs 250 cr turnover cos
• Rs 19,000 cr revenue loss on
direct tax in last fiscal
• LONG TERM CAPITAL GAINS EXCEEDING RS 1 L AKH WILL BE TAXED AT 10% WITHOUT INDEXING
• Short term capital tax remains at 15%
• A tax on distributed income at 10%
• Education cess increased to 4% from 3% to collect additional Rs 11,000 cr
• GST revenue will be received only for 11 months, that will have an effect on balance sheets
• GST collections projection pegged at Rs 7.43 lakh crore in full year 2018-19 as against Rs 4.44 lakh crore in nine months of current fiscal.
• Govt makes PAN mandatory for any entity entering into a financial transaction of Rs 2.5 lakh or more.
Customs Duties
• Customs Duty on certain products, such as mobile phones and televisions has been increased, to provide a fillip to 'Make in India'
• Social welfare surcharge of 10% on imported goods.
• Central Board of Excise and Customs renamed as Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
• Import of solar tempered glass for manufacture of solar cells exempted from customs duty.
• Customs duty on crude edible vegetable oils like groundnut oil, safflower seed oil hiked from 12.5% to 30%; on refined edible vegetable oil from 20% to 35%
• Customs duty on sunglasses, cigarette lighter, toys, bus and truck tyres, select furniture hiked.
• Customs duty on imitation jewellery hiked from 15% to 20%; doubled on all watches to 20%.
• Import duty on LCD/LED/ OLED panels, parts of TVs hiked to 15%; duty on smart watches, wearable devices, footwear doubled to 20%.
• New scheme for providing electronic assessment to eliminate person-to-person contact
• The government's emphasis will be on generating higher incomes for farmers, by helping them produce more with lesser cost, and in turn, earn higher income for their produce.
• Jaitley stressed on the fact that India's agricultural production is at a record high level today. 275 million tonne foodgrains and 300 million tonne fruits and vegetable have been produced in the country.
• The FM said the government wants farmers to earn 1.5 times the production cost, and the Minimum Selling Price (MSP) for the Kharif Crops has been set at 1.5 times the produce price. Jaitley said the Centre will work with states to ensure that all farmer get a fair price.
• Agricultural market and infra fund of Rs 2000 crore fund will be set up to strengthen the market connectivity.
• A sum of Rs 500 cr will be allocated for Operation Green to be launched. It will promote agricultural products.
• Extend the facility of Kisan credit card to fisheries and for animal husbandry
• Rs 10,000 crore set aside for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development Fund
• Rs 10,000 crore set aside for animal husbandry infra fund
• Propose to launch a restructured bamboo mission with a fund of Rs 1200 crore . "Bamboo is green gold," Jaitley said.
• Agricultural credit target increased from Rs 8.5 lakh crore to Rs 11 lakh core
• Special scheme to manage crop reduce in Haryana, Punjab and
Rural Economy
• 8 crore poor women will get new LPG connections.
• PM Saubhagya Yojana: 4 crore poor people will get power connection.
• The government will spend Rs 16,000 crore on this scheme.
• Govt plans to construct 2 crore toilets in next fiscal year under Swach Bharat Mission
• Government target house for all by 2022. 51 lakh houses have been constructed affordable houses in rural and further 50 lakh houses in urban areas.
• 1 cr houses to be built under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in rural areas
• National livelihood scheme gets Rs 5,750 crore .
• In 2018-19, ministries will be able to spend Rs 14.34 lakh crores for creation of livelihood in rural areas.
• Govt gives Rs 9,975 crore for social security schemes for the next fiscal year. Delhi to reduce pollution
Quotes on Budget
Mr. R. Narayan, CEO Power2SME “The government’s intent of promoting ‘ease of doing business’ among MSME players was evident in the announcements made by FM Arun Jaitley for MSMEs. With major focus on improving lending in the MSME sector, the government has announced a number of measures to ease the lending process and has also addressed to improve loan accessibility for MSMEs. The allocation of Rs 3 lakh crore for lending under Mudra will definitely boost the sector financially and help the MSME’s grow their businesses more efficiently. Further, reduction of the corporate tax to 25% for small companies with annual turnover of up to Rs. 250 crore is a master stroke
and this will bring relief to about 90% of MSME players in India. The government has also proposed revamping the system of sanctioning of loans to SMEs by linking it with GSTN. This will immensely help MSMEs with better management of working capital and faster discounting of the bills. Bank recapitalization will enable the public sector banks to lend an additional credit of 5 lakh crore, thereby allowing more companies and MSMEs to access required business loans. The FM’s agenda to provide viable environment for FinTech companies to grow will further help bridge MSME lending gap. Mr. Sujay Ojha, Advisor to Weather Risk Management Services Pvt. Ltd. “The budget 2018 has created an optimistic environment for the farmers and agriculture and given the impetus which so far was lacking. The government has surely ensured that the sector was one of the top priorities. There is operation green fund, a fund for improving cold chain facilities, MSP has increased to 1.5 times by which farmer gets better sale proceeds, credit facilities have increased. There is also separate fund for fisheries and animal husbandry sector. Farmer producer organizations have been given the much-needed tax cuts and incentive. Kisan credit card scheme has been extended to other sectors. The budget 2018 is a “Game changer”. It is pro-farmer, pro-agriculture, propoor. In fact, it is a true pro-republic and pro-India budget when we talk of the larger picture. The budget has also inter-linked various segments. The government has done a big job".