Budget 2013 Live Highlights: Finance Minister P. Chidambaram says no review of income tax slabs, focus on infrastructure
Budget 2013 Live Highlights: P. Chidambaram presents one of the most highly anticipated Indian budgets of recent years on Thursday, as the government looks to rein in a bloated fiscal deficit and restore confidence in Asia's third-largest economy.
The 2013/14 budget caps an intensive seven-month campaign by the energetic Chidambaram, who was appointed last August, to turn around India's fortunes after years of policy drift and global economic turmoil:
Highlights:
* Duty free limit on gold raised to Rs 50,000 in case of male and Rs 100,000 in case of female
* Duty on mobile phones above Rs 2,000 raised from one to six per cent, based on their maximum retail prices
* Excise duty on SUVs to be increased to 30 per cent from 27 per cent, SUVs registered as taxis exempted.
* Specific excise duty on cigarettes and cigars raised by 18 per cent.
* Service tax to be levied on all a/c restaurants
* Commodities transaction tax levied on non-agriculture commodities futures contracts at 0.01 per cent
* No review of income tax slabs for this year, propose tax credit of Rs 2,000 for incomes up to Rs 5 lakh.
* Surcharge of 10 per cent for individuals whose taxable income is over Rs 1 crore
* 'Nirbhaya Fund' of Rs 1,000 crore to empower women and provide safety in the wake of the Delhi gangrape incident.
* Investor with stake of 10 per cent or less will be treated as FII; any stake more than 10 per cent will be treated as FDI
* FIIs will be allowed
