Budget 2018 proposals come into effect: Here’s what gets cheaper and dearer

Prices of a host of products are slated to change from April 1, Sunday, as per the proposals of Union Budget 2018, presented by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on February 1. While LED television sets and imported mobile phones are slated to become costlier, solar panels will become cheaper as the proposals of the Union Budget come into effect.

Here’s a look at what’s slated to become costlier and what would get cheaper:

Costlier:

# Truck and bus radial tyres

# Imported mobile handsets

# Imported LCD/ LED/ OLED TV panels and other parts of TVs

# Perfumes, toilet water and imported beauty and make up preparations

# Wrist, pocket, smart watches, wearable devices and sunglasses

# Gemstones and diamonds

# Footwear and silk fabrics

# Fruit juices

# Imported cranberry juice

# Orange fruit juice

# Other fruit and vegetables juices

# Crude edible vegetable oils like olive oil, ground nut oil

# Refined edible vegetable oils, ground nut oil

# Imported gold items, including gold plated with platinum

Cheaper:

# Raw cashew nuts

# Solar tempered glass or solar tempered glass for manufacture of solar cells/panels/modules

# Raw materials, parts and accessories of cochlear implants

Apart from these, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has revised its toll rates by as much as seven per cent, to come into effect from Sunday. This will make travelling on national highways costlier and is also likely to impact the cost of essential commodities.

Meanwhile, the reintroduction of tax on long-term capital gains (LTCG) exceeding Rs 1 lakh from the sale of shares, reduced corporate tax of 25 percent on businesses on turnover of up to Rs 250 crore and a standard deduction of Rs 40,000 in lieu of transport allowance and medical reimbursement are some of the budget proposals will come into effect from Sunday.
The 2018-19 budget had after a gap of 14 years reintroduced 10 percent tax on LTCG exceeding Rs 1 lakh from the sale of shares. In July 2004, the government had abolished LTCG tax on shares and had replaced it with the securities transaction tax (STT).

Currently, 15 percent tax is levied on capital gains made on share sale within a year of purchase. However, it is nil for shares sold after a year of purchase. The indexation benefit for computing tax liability on the sale of shares listed after January 31 will be available, which will come as a relief to investors.