Budget 2024: Tweaks in new tax regime, angel tax abolished, Oppn stages walkout from Lok Sabha over Union Budget – Highlights

On Tuesday, the government announced a proposal to exempt three cancer medicines—Trastuzumab Deruxtecan, Osimertinib, and Durvalumab—from customs duties, reducing the rate from 10% to nil. Presenting the Union Budget for 2024-25 in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated, “To provide relief to cancer patients, I propose to fully exempt three more medicines from customs duties.”

Additionally, Sitharaman proposed changes to the basic customs duty (BCD) on x-ray tubes and flat panel detectors used in medical x-ray machines, aligning them with domestic capacity additions under the phased manufacturing programme. “My proposals for customs duties intend to support domestic manufacturing, deepen local value addition, promote export competitiveness, and simplify taxation, while keeping the interest of the general public and consumers paramount,” she said.

Anil Matai, Director General of the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI), welcomed the move, stating it would significantly reduce the financial burden on cancer patients. “While we appreciate the positive strides taken in the Union Budget 2024, we were also hoping for incentives for pharma companies to develop medications for rare diseases affecting small populations,” he added.

(With PTI inputs)

Disability rights organizations have voiced strong disapproval of the Union Budget, highlighting the continued neglect of people with disabilities (PwD) despite government claims of inclusive growth. The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) received an allocation of ₹1,225.27 crore for the fiscal year 2024-2025, a marginal increase from the previous year’s revised estimate of ₹1,225.01 crore.

The National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) condemned the budget allocation to the DEPwD, noting it represents only 0.025% of the total budget. NPRD General Secretary Muralidharan emphasized that this is significantly lower than the 5% allocation demanded by disability rights organizations. “The disdain with which the department is treated is evident from the fact that its allocation as a proportion of the total budget is a mere 0.025%, far short of the 5% allocation across ministries that disability rights organizations and activists have been demanding,” he said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in her Union Budget for 2024-25 that over ₹3 lakh crore will be allocated to schemes benefiting women and girls, highlighting the government’s commitment to enhancing women’s roles in economic development.

Key initiatives include establishing working women hostels in collaboration with industries and creating creches to support working mothers. These measures aim to improve work-home balance and boost female workforce participation, which has risen to 24% in Q2 FY24.

The budget also introduces women-specific skilling programs and shows a significant increase in female workforce participation, with 0.24 million new female members added as of May 2024, marking a 12.1% rise from the previous year. The Ministry of Women and Child Development’s budget allocation has seen a modest 2.5% increase for the fiscal year.

On Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced plans to simplify Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regulations to attract more international funds. In her Union Budget 2024-25 speech, she revealed that the government will introduce a five-year vision document to address the economy’s financial needs. Additionally, efforts will be made to encourage privatization and promote the use of the Indian rupee for foreign investments. The government will also develop a taxonomy for climate finance and revamp the Shram Suvidha Portal to improve industry and trade compliance.

On Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced plans to review the Income Tax Act to make it more user-friendly. In her Union Budget 2024-25 presentation, she outlined initiatives including the development of a Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) for TDS defaults and the simplification of compounding offenses. Additionally, two tax exemption regimes for charitable trusts will be consolidated into one. Sitharaman noted that 58% of corporate tax revenue in FY23 came from the simplified tax regime, and over two-thirds of individuals utilized the new income tax regime. She also revealed that DPI apps will be created to enhance services in credit, e-commerce, education, health, law, MSME service delivery, and urban governance.

On Tuesday, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal welcomed the Union Budget‘s measures to support domestic manufacturing and export growth. He highlighted that the reduction in gold import duty to 6% would stimulate gold and silver jewelry production and curb smuggling. Goyal noted that with high gold prices and the approaching marriage season, this move would benefit consumers as well.

In her Budget presentation, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the cut in customs duties on gold and silver to 6% and on platinum to 6.4% to encourage domestic value addition in precious metal jewelry. Additionally, the government removed angel tax for all classes of investors, aiming to foster the startup ecosystem and support emerging entrepreneurs.

Farmers in Himachal Pradesh voiced their disappointment on Tuesday as their major demands were overlooked in the Union Budget for 2024-25. Key issues such as a 100% import duty on apples and GST exemptions for farm inputs were not addressed.

Harish Chauhan, President of the Fruit Vegetable Flower Growers Association, expressed frustration that the Union Budget, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, did not include a 100% import duty on apples to curb the influx of cheaper imports. “Our call for GST exemptions on farm inputs and equipment remains unheeded,” he said in a video statement.

Apple cultivation spans 115,680 hectares across 21 assembly segments, primarily in Shimla, Mandi, Kullu, and Kinnaur districts, with smaller areas in Chamba, Sirmaur, Lahaul and Spiti, Kangra, and Solan. The apple industry in Himachal Pradesh is valued at around ₹5,000 crore, and more than 300,000 families are directly involved in apple production.

Chauhan acknowledged the new scheme for marketing and cold chain infrastructure for vegetable growers but raised concerns about its applicability to Himachal farmers due to the state’s small landholdings, making cluster formation challenging.

(With PTI inputs)

FM virtually adopted ideas underlying Cong proposals on employment-linked incentive scheme, apprenticeship, angel tax abolition, says P Chidambaram. Unemployment biggest challenge facing country; response of govt ‘too little’, will have little impact on grave situation, the former finance minister added.

According to the Budget document, all rental income from residential properties for individual taxpayers will be classified under ‘income from house property’ and not as ‘income from business or profession’. This clarification in the finance bill 2024 addresses the issue of individuals reporting rental income as ‘profits and gains of business or profession’ to lower their tax liabilities.

Nirmala Sitharaman slammed the Opposition over the ‘kursi bachao budget.’ “INDIA alliance won 236 seats in the Lok Sabha polls. The NDA alliance won 293 seats, with the BJP alone accounting for 240.” Opposition does not have any right to talk about ‘kursi bachao’ stance.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2024-25 at 11 AM on Tuesday. The Budget Session of the Parliament began on Monday and will conclude on August 12. (Read FULL TEXT)

Sensex declines 73.04 pts to settle at 80,429.04; Nifty drops 30.20 pts to close at 24,479.05. (PTI)

Rupee falls 3 paise to close at 83.69 (provisional) against US dollar post Budget.

Talking about the monetisation programme, Nirmala Sitharaman said that the govt is looking for newer areas of resources.

‘Employment captures everything to do with this budget,’ says Nirmala Sitharaman.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s post-budget presser has begun.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slams Union Budget and calls it a ‘copy, paste’ job.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has hailed the budgatary allocation for his ministry. Regarding the allocation to the Ministry of Defence, I extend my gratitude to the Finance Minister for providing the highest allocation of Rs 6,21,940.85 crore, which represents 12.9% of the total Budget of the Government of India for FY 2024-25, Singh said in a tweet. The capital outlay of Rs 1,72,000 crore will further enhance the capabilities of the Armed Forces. Additionally, earmarking Rs 1,05,518.43 crore for domestic capital procurement will give a significant boost to Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India), Singh added.

“This budget will give power to every section of the society, ” says PM Modi

Big focus on job creation and skilling of youth, says PM Modi after Union Budget presentation.

Ahead of Union Budget, there was a lot of buzz around how two key allies of NDA – TDP and JD(U) – seeking special focus for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. Several reports had said that Andhra Pradesh had sought as much as Rs 1 lakh crore. Bihar, on the other hand, had demanded a special status. When Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha, the numbers said a different story. While Andhra got Rs 15,000 crore, Bihar got Rs 26,000 crore in terms of budgatry allocation. Though RJD leader and ex-Bihar CM Rabri Devi has termed the special package for Bihar as ‘jhunjhuna’, Trinamool has termed this as ‘kursi bachao budget.’

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in the Lok Sabha an allocation of Rs. 2.66 lakh crore for rural development, including rural infrastructure. She also revealed plans to build three crore additional houses under the PM Awas Yojana across both rural and urban areas. (Read More)

Angel tax is imposed on the capital raised by unlisted companies through the issuance of shares to Indian investors if the share price exceeds the company’s fair market value. The excess amount is treated as income and taxed accordingly.

Stock market benchmarks Sensex and Nifty plummeted after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a hike in the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on Futures and Options (F&O) securities. The 30-share BSE Sensex initially surged when Sitharaman began presenting the Budget for 2024-25 but quickly fell into the red, eventually dropping 1,266.17 points to 79,235.91 during afternoon trade. Similarly, the NSE Nifty rose as the finance minister started her 7th Union Budget presentation in the Lok Sabha, but soon experienced volatile trends and sank 435.05 points to 24,074.20. Earlier, the BSE benchmark had risen 264.33 points to 80,766.41, while the Nifty had increased by 73.3 points to 24,582.55.

The Modi government has reduced customs duty on gold and silver. On Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed lowering the basic customs duty on gold and silver to 6 percent and on platinum to 6.4 per cent. Additionally, she announced an exemption of customs duty on 25 critical minerals. This reduction in basic customs duty on gold, silver, and platinum addresses a long-standing demand of the gems and jewellery industry.

The government announced a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act to simplify its readability. In her Union Budget speech, the Finance Minister also stated that the government will introduce a standard operating procedure (SoP) for TDS defaults and streamline the compounding of such offences. Additionally, she announced that the two tax exemption regimes for charitable trusts will be merged into a single regime.

In a massive change, Nirmala Sitharaman has announced the proposal of abolishing the angel tax. There will be no angel tax on all classes of assets, announces Sitharaman.

In a huge relief for those battling cancer, Nirmala Sitharaman has announced custom duty exemption for three cancer drugs in her budget speech in the Lok Sabha. (Read More)

Nirmala Sitharaman has announced the reduction in the basic customs duty on mobile phones to 15 per cent. This may be good news for those thinking of buying new smartphones as the communication devices may turns cheaper after this move.