Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled the Union Budget for the upcoming financial year (2024-25), marking it as an interim budget. Since it’s the last one before Lok Sabha elections, the Budget is an interim one.
MSME
During her speech, Finance Minister Sitharaman said, “Priority to ensure timely, adequate financial help to MSME".
She highlighted that the government will provide training to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises for global competition. She also said that the government will take up next-generation reforms to facilitate growth, anticipating the next five years as a phase of significant development towards achieving a developed India by 2047.
FM Sitharaman announced that a corpus of ₹ 1 lakh crore will be established with 50-year interest free loan to provide long term financing with long tenure with no or less interest rates.
No changes in tax rates for income class
The finance minister chose to keep the tax rates unchanged in the interim Budget 2024.
The tax slabs under the new IT regime remain at this:
- Up to Rs 3 lakh: NIL.
- Rs 3 lakh- Rs 6 lakh: 5%
- Rs 6 lakh-Rs 9 lakh: 10%
- Rs 9 lakh-Rs 12 lakh: 15%
- Rs 12 lakh- Rs 15 lakh: 20%
- Over Rs 15 lakh: 30%
The tax slabs under the old IT regime remain at this:
- Up to Rs 2.5 lakh: NIL.
- Rs 2.5 lakh- Rs 5 lakh: 5%
- Rs 5 lakh-Rs 10 lakh: 20%
- Over Rs 10 lakh: 30%
However, the finance minister has proposed the withdrawal of outstanding direct tax demands up to ₹25,000 for the period up to the financial year 2009-10 and up to ₹10,000 for the financial years 2010-11 to 2014-15. These demands, many dating back to 1962, are often petty, non-verified, non-reconciled, or disputed, causing distress to honest taxpayers and impeding subsequent year refunds. This is expected to benefit about a crore taxpayers.
Key highlights
- Rooftop solarisation to give 1 crore households 300 units of free electricity per month, says Nirmala Sitharaman.
- Tax benefits for startups, investments made by sovereign wealth, pension funds to be extended to March 2025
- A scheme will be launched to help deserving sections of the middle class ‘living in rented houses, or slums, or chawls and unauthorised colonies’ to buy or build their own houses.
- For encouraging sustained foreign investment, the government is negotiating bilateral investment treaties with foreign partners, in the spirit of ‘first develop India.
- The scope of Ayushman Bharat coverage will be expanded to include all Anganwadi and Asha workers.
- A new scheme will be launched for strengthening deep-tech technologies for defence purposes and expediting ‘atmanirbharta’,
The full budget will be presented in July by the incoming government, whether a re-elected or new one.
