Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal presented the budget today in the parliament. The interim budget has proposed tax breaks for the middle class and sops for farmers and millions of employees in the unorganised sector. Here are the highlights:
- 6,000 rupees yearly direct support to farmers through PM-KISAN Programme.
- 3,000 rupees pension for unorganised sector workers earning up to 15,000 rupees through a mega Pension Scheme – Pradhan Mantri Shram- Yogi Maandhan.
- Present Income Tax rates to continue; Full tax rebate up to income of 5 lakh rupees for individual taxpayers; Standard deduction raised to 50,000, a hike of 10,000 for salaried class.
- Direct tax system simplified; Returns to be processed in 24 hours with immediate refunds.
- 90 percent GST payers can file quarterly returns; Small and Medium Enterprises to get two percent interest rebate on the incremental loan of one crore rupees; A Group of Ministers to examine GST burden on home buyers.
- Customs to go for digitalization of export and import transactions.
- Allocations to Health care, MGNREGA, SC/ST welfare programmes, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Development of infrastructure in North-East hiked substantially.
- Electricity connection to all willing families by next month.
- Allocations to Defence budget crosses three lakh crore rupees for the first time.
- 10 point vision for 2030 to realize India’s social economic potential; Steps to make India 10 trillion dollars economy in 13 years.
- Allocation for infrastructure development in the region hiked by 21 percent.
- One lakh more villages to get digital connectivity.
- The fiscal deficit pegged at 3.4 percent of GDP are the highlight of the Interim Budget for 2019-20.
Also read: Interim Budget 2019: Full Tax Rebate For Annual Income Upto Rs 5 Lakh
Ms Kalinga