Union Budget 2017: Top 10 announcements

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday presented the Union Budget 2017-18, offering more money for welfare schemes, minor tax sops for individuals and small firms, with a fiscal deficit of 3.2 percent of GDP.

Here are top 10 announcements made by the Finance Minister in his Budget speech.

1. Income tax rate halved

FM lowered income tax rate for income between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 5 lakh from 10 percent to 5 percent. A 10 percent surcharge has been slapped on income between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore. The 15 percent surcharge on income above Rs 1 crore will continue.

While the taxation liability of people with income up to Rs 5 lakh is being reduced to half, all other categories of tax payers in the subsequent slabs will also get a uniform benefit of Rs 12,500 per person.

In the case of senior citizens above 60 years, there will be no tax up to Rs 3 lakh, while the exemption will be up to Rs 5 lakh in case of citizens above 80 years. Both the categories will attract income tax of 20 per cent on income between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh and 30 per cent for income above Rs 10 lakh.

2. Revising tax return to 12 months

Jaitley proposed to reduce the time period for revising a tax return to 12 months from completion of financial year.

The Minister also proposed to reduce the time for completion of scrutiny assessments from 21 months to 18 months for Assessment Year 2018-19 and further to 12 months for Assessment Year 2019-20 and thereafter.

3. Push for digital economy

To promote Digital Economy, the Budget provides for taking income as 6 per cent of turnover received by digital or banking means for calculation of presumptive income tax.

Cash expenditure allowable has been reduced to Rs 10,000 from the existing Rs 20,000.

4. Mobile phones will be costlier with the Budget proposing a 2 percent special auxiliary duty on import of populated printed circuit boards (PCBs).

5. Against the backdrop of demonetisation intended to eliminate black money and introduce clean transactions, the Budget barred any transaction in cash above Rs 3 lakh.

6. As a measure of transparency in political funding, Jaitley lowered to one-tenth the donation that political parties can accept in cash to Rs 2,000 per donor. Also bearer Electoral Bonds will be introduced which a donor can buy from a scheduled bank through cheque or e-mode, for making donations.

7. The tax exemption for affordable housing has been proposed, to be applied on area of 30 and 60 square meter of carpet area and not built-up area with 30 sq mt limit, for the four metropolitan city limits and 60 sq mt for the rest of the country.

8. Making changes in capital gains taxation for immovable properties, Budget reduced holding period for computation of long term capital gain from three years to two years and shifted the base year for counting the cost of property from April 1, 1981 to April 1, 2001.

9. In view of the fact that the proposed GST is expected to be rolled out soon, he left indirect taxes largely untouched except for some changes in duties on tobacco products, solar panels and circuit for mobile phones.

10. Jaitley gave tax relief for overseas investors in some bonds and scrapped Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to make it easier for doing business in India.