In her presentation of the Union Budget for the fiscal year 2024-25, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman outlined several significant changes, marking the start of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third term. This is Sitharaman’s seventh consecutive budget presentation, surpassing the previous record held by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai.
Key highlights from Sitharaman’s budget speech include:
- Income Tax Act Review: Sitharaman announced a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act of 1961 aimed at reducing disputes and litigation. This review is expected to be completed within six months.
- Customs Duties on Precious Metals: The budget proposes a reduction in customs duties on gold and silver to 6% and 6.5%, respectively. Additionally, the duty on platinum is reduced to 6.4%.
- Medical Supplies: Three cancer treatment medicines will be exempt from basic customs duty to make them more affordable.
- Innovation and Research: The establishment of the Anusandhan National Research Fund, with a financing pool of ₹1 lakh crore, is aimed at fostering private sector-driven research and prototype development.
- Duty Reductions and Exemptions:
- Duties on down-filling materials from ducks and geese, methylene, and MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate) are proposed to be reduced.
- Customs duties on lithium, copper, and cobalt will be exempted.
- Export duty structure for leather will be simplified, and duties on blister copper will be removed.
- Duties on plastic will be increased to 25%, while ammonium nitrate will see a duty increase to 10%.
- Tax Regime Simplifications:
- The budget proposes merging two tax exemption regimes for charities to simplify the tax landscape.
- The TDS rate for e-commerce transactions will be reduced to 0.1%.
- The capital gains tax will be simplified, with an increase in the limit of capital gains on assets to ₹1.25 lakhs per year and a 20% tax on some short-term capital gains.
Sitharaman’s budget seeks to streamline tax policies, reduce burdens on various sectors, and enhance support for innovation and research.