Union Budget 2018: Proposals announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his much-anticipated budget speech could pinch your wallet more if you had held back plans to purchase a television or mobile phone till after the Budget. The Union Budget 2018 presented in the Parliament today in which the Narendra Modi government announced changes in excise and customs duties on certain items which are set to get costlier after the budget. As per the Budget, Customs duty on mobile phones has been increased from 15% to 20%. Education cess increased from 3% to 4%.
Here’s a list of products/services that will get cheaper/costlier:
The following is a list of products/services that will turn costlier:
* Footwear
* Vegetable, fruit juices, including orange and cranberry
* Sunglasses
* Miscellaneous food preparations other than soya protein
* Perfumes and toilet waters
* Coloured gemstones
* Diamonds
* Imitation jewelry
* Smart watches/wearable devices
* LCD/ LED TV panels
* Cars and motorcycles
* Mobile phones
* Silver
* Gold
* Sunscreen, suntan, manicure, pedicure preparations
* Preparations for oral dental hygiene, denture fixative pastes and powders; dental floss
* Pre-shave, shaving or after-shave preparations,
* Deodorants, bath preparations, depilatories, perfumery
* Scent sprays and similar toilet sprays
* Truck and Bus radial tyres
* Silk Fabrics
* Furniture
* Mattresses
* Lamps
* Wrist watches, pocket watches, clocks
* Tricycles, scooters, pedal cars, wheeled toys, dolls’ carriages, dolls, toys, puzzles of all kinds
* Video game consoles
* Articles and equipment for sports or outdoor games, swimming pools and paddling pools
* Cigarette and other lighters, candles
* Kites
* Edible/vegetable oils such as olive oil, groundnut oil
The following is a list of products/services that will turn cheaper:
* Raw cashew nuts
* Raw materials, parts or accessories used in making cochlear implants
* Solar tempered glass or solar tempered glass used for manufacture solar panels/modules
* Select capital goods and electronics such as ball screws and linear motion guides.
This budget 2018 has been very crucial for the government. The changes done in the budget will guide the Narendra Modi government in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections which are slated for next year. The budget which comes after the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax or GST. During his speech, Arun Jaitley said, “Customs duty on mobile phones increased to 20% from 15%.” However, Arun Jaitley gave a bumper relief for poor sections of the society. He announced that more than 10 crores from the poor and vulnerable sect of the society will be covered in the scheme where each family will get Rs 5 lakh per year. With the number of people covered in the healthcare scheme, this indeed is one of the largest government-funded healthcare programme in the World.
Pankaj Mohindroo, the President of Indian Cellular Association (ICA) National President said that this will be the “last nail in the coffin” of imports. “We are reaching a situation where imports would be nearly impossible,” Mohindroo added.
