Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman presented her 4th Union Budget in the Parliament on 1st February, 2022. While there have no change in Income Tax Slabs and income tax deductions, here are the key proposals by way of the Union Budget.
The proposals in Union Budget have been divided into various categories, which are as follows.
Finance
– With the aim to take Digital Banking to every citizen. 75 digital banking units in 75 districts of the country will be launched
– 100% of 1.5 lakh post offices will come on core banking system to facilitate financial inclusion
– To reduce the delay in payment, an online bill system to be launched which will be used by all Central ministries
– Effective Capital Expenditure of the Central Govt is estimated at Rs 10.68 lakh crores in 2022-23
– Digital rupee to be issued using blockchain and other technologies; to be issued by RBI starting 2022-23
– Financial Year 2022- 2023 fiscal deficit pegged at 6.4% Of GDP.
– The financial support for digital payment ecosystem announced in the previous Budget will continue in 2022-2023.
– Digital Rupee, using blockchain and other technologies, to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India starting 2022-2023.
Direct Taxation
– Taxpayers will be allowed to file an updated IT return, within two years from the end of the assessment year.
– Both Centre and States Government employees’ NPS tax deduction limit to be increased from the current 10% to 14% to help the social security benefits of State Government employees and bring them at par with the Central government employees.
– The corporate surcharge is proposed to be reduced from 12% to 7%.
– The co-operative MAT is proposed to be reduced to 15%.
– The surcharge on LTCG on all assets has been capped at 15 per cent.
– Virtual Digital Assets like Bitcoins, NFTS will be taxed @30%. No deduction in respect of any expenditure or allowance shall be allowed while computing such income, except cost of acquisition
– Payment of annuity and lump sum amount to the differently abled dependent allowed during the lifetime of parents/guardians, i.e., on parents/ guardians attaining the age of sixty years.
– Deadline for tax incentives to start-ups extended to March 31, 2023
– TDS on passing of benefits to agents as part of business promotion strategy is to be deducted if aggregate value exceeds Rs. 20,000/-
Road Transport
PM GatiShakti Master Plan for Expressways will be formulated in 2022-2023 to facilitate faster movement of people and goods.
Housing
– 60,000 houses will be identified as beneficiaries for PM Awas Yojana in rural & urban areas
Telecom
– Spectrum auctions will be conducted in 2022 to facilitate rollout of 5G mobile services within 2022- 23 by private telecom providers.
Deterrence against tax-evasion
No set off, of any loss shall be allowed against undisclosed income detected during search and survey operations.
Agricultural
– Rationalized and comprehensive scheme to increase domestic production of oil seeds to be implemented, to reduce dependence on import of oil seeds
– Government will pay Rs 2.37 lakh crore towards procurement of wheat and paddy under MSP operations.
– Fund to be facilitated through NABARD to finance startups for agriculture and rural enterprise, relevant for farm produce value chain.
– Use of Kisan Drones to be promoted for crop assessment, digitization of land records, spraying of insecticides and nutrients
Health
– An open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem will be rolled out. It will consist of digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identity and universal access to health facilities
– To better the access to quality mental health counselling and care services, a National Tele Mental Health program will be launched
Infrastructure
– Sovereign Green Bonds to be issued in public sector projects to reduce carbon footprint initiatives in the economy
– For 2022-23,allocation is Rs 1 lakh crore to assist the states in catalyzing overall investments in economy.
MSME
– Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme extended till March 2023
– Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) to be revamped with required fund infusion of Rs. 2 lakh crore
– Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance (RAMP) programme with outlay of ` 6,000 crore over 5 years will be rolled out
Electric Vehicle
– Private sector will be encouraged to create sustainable and innovative business models for battery and energy as a service, improving the efficiency in the Electric Vehicle ecosystem
– Battery Swapping Policy’ will be brought in
Education
– ‘One class-one TV channel’ programme of PM eVIDYA will be expanded from 12 to 200 TV channels. This will enable all states to provide supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1-12.
– 750 virtual labs in science and mathematics, and 75 skilling e-labs for simulated learning environment, will be set-up in 2022-2023
– High-quality e-content in all spoken languages will be developed for delivery via internet, mobile phones, TV and radio through Digital Teachers.
Defence
68% of the capital procurement budget for Defence to be earmarked for domestic industry to promote Aatmanirbharta and reduce dependence on imports of defence equipment.
e-Passport
– Issuance of E-passports will be rolled out in 2022-23 to enhance convenience for citizens
Custom and Excise Duty
– Customs duty on cut and polished diamonds and gemstones is being reduced to 5 per cent.
– Duty on umbrellas is being raised to 20 per cent
– Custom duty on certain chemicals reduced
– Custom duty on mobiles also reduced
– Duty is being reduced on certain inputs required for shrimp aquaculture so as to promote its exports
– Unblended fuel shall attract an additional differential excise duty of ` 2/ litre from the 1st day of October 2022.
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