Budget News

Anticipation is steadily building for the Union Budget 2024, which President Murmu has hinted could be “historic”. Reports hint at a significant emphasis on the Railway budget this year.

The Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has suggested the government to rationalise customs duties in various sectors including steel, solar battery, aluminum, and lithium cells in a bid to boost domestic manufacturing.

Startups in India have high expectations from this year's upcoming Union Budget. The early-age startups expect the removal of angel taxes, whereas the health tech startups expect increased funding for the sector.

Sitharaman is scheduled to present the full Budget for fiscal 2024-25 on July 23, which will be the first major policy document of the new government.

According to Section 43B(h) of the Income Tax Act, introduced through the Finance Act 2023, if a larger company does not pay an MSME on time -- within 45 days in case of written agreements -- it cannot deduct that expense from its taxable income, leading to potentially higher taxes.

The first full budget of the BJP-led NDA government in its third successive term will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23. She has been holding pre-budget consultations. As part of the deliberations, she has met economists, experts in finance and capital markets, industry representatives and agriculture experts.

Terming the state budget as "revolutionary," Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that this budget in a true sense empowers women, youth, and farmers through various schemes worth Rs 1 lakh crore.

The budget for fiscal 2024 is growth-oriented and focuses on capital spending to stoke demand and ultimately crowd in private-sector investments. It also provides support to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and should boost consumption demand through tax concessions. Yet it plans to stick to the fiscal consolidation path — there is no borrowing shock — which augurs well for interest rates. Such tidings will prepare the economy for its next phase of growth.

The Indian government has announced multiple initiatives in the budget for the development of infrastructure. This budget focuses on increased spending in infrastructure, which is likely to have a multiplier effect by increasing demand generation, creating more employment as well as enhancing the quality of life of citizens. The budget also announces multiple forward-looking initiatives for improving the infrastructure sector.

For education and medical treatment there is no change to the earlier tax of 5% on remittances in excess of ₹7 lakh Overseas tour packages will get m...

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget 2023 has set the tone for the Indian economy’s longer-term future by making room for fiscal consolidation while still boosting the government’s capital expenditure investments, made possible by cutting down on populism, say analysts. Going forward, analysts expect cyclical and capital-intensive sectors like infrastructure to benefit from the government’s economic direction.

The Finance Minister reduced the maximum tax rate, and that will push HNIs and UHNIs to invest more. Home-grown and global A...

The Economic Survey of 2022-23 expects the Indian economy to grow at 7% for the year ending March 2023, with the country also widely projected to be the fastest growing economy in FY23. At a time when the global economy is grappling with recessionary pressures, this status is a boon. In light of the above and considering that tax rates, deduction and exemption limits, have relatively remained unchanged for some time now, the expectations of individual taxpayers from the Union Budget were quite high. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to introduce five major amendments to tax regulations, impacting individual taxation. It is important to note that all these changes, except that relating to leave encashment, apply only to the new tax regime.

There may be more pain than gain for EV makers and buyers from the Union Budget 2023-24. While the Finance Minister did extend the customs duty exemption for capital goods and machinery for lithium-ion manufacturing for EVs, she did make importing auto parts costlier for all automobiles. The net net effect may be that EVs might become costlier going ahead. "To further provide impetus to green mobility, customs duty exemption is being extended to import of capital goods and machinery required for manufacture of lithium-ion cells for batteries used in electric vehicles," said finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget address.

The Union Budget is one of the most anticipated annual events in India. I personally believe that the Union Budget 2023-24 should not be seen as an isolated event but as one of the many steps over a series of successful and pathbreaking reforms. The focus areas are: (i) boosting economic growth, (ii) employment generation, (iii) encouraging savings and investments, and (iv) fiscal consolidation. The government needs to be commended for keeping the fiscal deficit under control. India’s fiscal deficit was in line with the Budget Estimates of 6.4% of the gross domestic product (GDP). Buoyant direct and GST (goods and services tax) collections were one of the reasons for successfully keeping the fiscal deficit under check.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday presented the much-awaited Budget 2023-24 in the parliament. She made several announcements regarding changes in duties, new initiatives by the government and changes to the tax structure. She also reduced custom duty for smartphone components such as camera lens and open cells of TV panels. The government also announced that it is setting up three new centers of excellence in artificial intelligence (AI), 100 5G labs and more.

The Union Budget 2023-24 has put the focus on putting more money in the common man’s pocket whilst also ensuring the growth ...

Also, 20 per cent TCS will be applicable in cases where funds in excess of Rs 7 lakh are sent out of India under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme of the RBI.

For better targeting of tax concessions and exemptions, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman capped deduction from capital gains on investment in residential houses under sections 54 and 54F to Rs 10 crore.

The government proposed to take up 100 critical transport infrastructure projects, for last and first-mile connectivity for ports, coal, steel, fertilizer, and food grains sectors.

An upward revision in income tax slabs and a continued push on capital expenditure investments emerged as the key highlights of the Union Budget 2023-24. While the revised tax slabs under the new tax regime will benefit the middle-class and salaried individuals, the government also announced a 33% increase in its capital investment outlay for FY24 to boost growth and promote job creation.

Fully imported cars, including electric vehicles, will cost more with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing hike in customs duty in the Union Budget 2023-24.