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UNION BUDGET 2019 HIGHLIGHTS

The New Finance Minister, Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman presented her and the Government’s first Union Budget.

General Comments and Proposals:

1. Stringent Commitment to Fiscal Discipline
2. Number of patents has tripled in last 5 years
3. Economy reached $2.7 trillion in last 5 years
4. India now the 6^th largest economy in the world; 3^rd best economy in terms of purchasing power
5. $5 Trillion mark well within our reach
6. Target to achieve $3 Trillion mark in 2019 itself
7. Emphasis of MSMEs, Star-ups, Defence
8. Need to invest heavily in Infrastructure
9. Major reforms planned to serve the Aam Aadmi
10. India’s private sector industry aided growth
11. Gone are the days of policy paralysis
12. Connectivity is the life grid of economy; dedicated freight corridors in pipeline
13. Udaan scheme to provide air connectivity; Sagarmala for road, rail, port connectivity
14. India must enter aircraft financing
15. Hope to become self-sufficient in aviation
16. Big metro line push for new India
17. Push for National Common Mobility Card; multiple transport charges with one inter-operable transport Rupay card
18. Upfront incentive for producing and purchasing electronic vehicles; providing infrastructure for charging e-vehicles
19. Need to develop inland waterways; Jal Marg for inland cargo movement
20. Jal marg terminal in Varanasi operational; jal marg via Ganga to increase 6 fold
21. 50 lakh crores needed for Jal Marg scheme
22. One Nation – One grid scheme; will make power sharing more efficient
23. UDAI scheme for DISCOMs to be improved
24. Easy, hassle free loan schemes for MSMEs; loans upto 1 crore in 59 minutes
25. 2% interest subvention for all GST registered MSMEs
26. Pension for 3 crore retail traders to be extended to ensure social security
27. Rental laws to be reformed
28. Proposal to reform KYC for FPIs
29. Social Stock Exchange under SEBI proposed
30. Electronic Fund raising platform in process
31. FDI inflows have remained robust; 54.3 billion USD in last year, 6% increase over last year.
32. 100% direct FDI will be permitted to insurance intermediaries
33. Examining scope of opening FDI in aviation and media
34. Boost to single band retail FDI
35. Plan to host annual Global Investors’ Meet
36. India world’s top remittance recipient
37. Focus on Gaon, Grameen, Kisaan
38. Ujjwala scheme has been a game changer with unprecedented expansion
39. Power and LPG to all rural households by 2022 other than those who are unwilling to take
40. 95 Crore houses to be provided under Awaas Yojana – Grameen
41. Fishing industry crucial to economy; focus on infrastructure modernisation with robust fisheries schemes proposed
42. Gram Sadak Yojana Phase-3 to be launched; major boost to all weather connectivity
43. 125000 kms to be constructed by next 5 years
44. Cluster based development for productivity; big thrust to traditional industries
45. Big announcement for farmers; hope to make 10000 farmer groups
46. Skill 75000 rural entrepreneurs
47. Ease of business and living must apply to farmers
48. Back to basics – zero budget farming to return; steps to double farmer’s income
49. Adequate and clean potable drinking water for all rural households under Har Ghar Jal scheme by 2024
50. Sustainable water supply management
51. 60 crore toilets have been constructed since October 2016 under Swacch Bharat Scheme
52. Over 5 lakh villages have been made open defecation free
53. Sustainable solid waste management in every village to be included under Swacch Bharat Scheme
54. 2 crore rural Indians have been made digitally literate
55. 81 lakh houses with investment of over INR 4.83 lakhs sanctioned under the Awaas Yojana – Urban; over 26 lakh houses already constructed
56. 95% of all cities have been declared open defecation free (ODF); 100% ODF by 2^nd October, 2019
57. New National Research Foundation to be launched for youth; focus on youth and employment
58. Major changes for school and higher education envisaged
59. 3 Indian colleges in world’s top 200
60. Bid to invite foreign students to India; “Study in India” scheme to be launched
61. Focus on sports development; launch of “Khelo India” scheme
62. Industry relevant skill training for youth; over INR 10 million allocated for the scheme
63. 35 crore LED bulbs distributed
64. Proposal to streamline multiple labour laws; only 4 basic labour codes to standardise laws proposed
65. TV channel with program exclusively for start-ups; under the DD bouquet
66. 3000 crore pension for unorganised labour
67. Focus on ease of living for residents of new India; focus on clean environment
68. Big push for women empowerment; gender analysis of budget in place
69. Aadhaar Card for NRIs on return under 180 days on arrival
70. Efforts to link artisans to world market
71. 18 new diplomatic missions in Africa
72. Digital move to preserve tribal heritage
73. 17 iconic sites identified to promote tourism
74. NPAs of banks have reduced by INR 1 lakh crores
75. Record recovery of INR 4 lakh crores made in last year under insolvency code
76. Public sector banks to be provided INR 70000 crores recapitalisation to boost capital to improve credit
77. One time credit guarantee for NBFCs
78. 100 lakh crore for housing infrastructure
79. RBI to regulate housing loan finance sector
80. Will reinitiate disinvestment in select NBFCs
81. Government resolved to reinitiate disinvestment of Air India
82. India’s sovereign external debt to GDP lowest among the world at less than 5%
83. New series of coins of INR 1, 2 5, 10 and 20 easily identifiable to the visually impaired launched in March 2019 to be made available to public use shortly.
84. 105000 crore disinvestment target for the Government

Direct Tax proposals:

1. Direct tax revenue has increased by over 78% from INR 6.38 lakh crores in FY 2013-14 to INR 11.37 lakh crores in FY 2018-19
2. Growing at double digit rates every year
3. Lower corporate tax rate of 25% extended to companies having annual turnover upto INR 400 crores
4. The lower corporate tax rate will cover 99.30% of all companies registered in India
5. Additional deduction of INR 1.50 lakh for interest paid on purchase of electric vehicles; this is apart from the proposal under indirect tax to reduce GST rate on electric vehicles from 12% to 5%
6. Valuation of Funds raised by start-ups will not require any scrutiny by the Income Tax department
7. Period of exemption on capital gains for investment in start-ups extended upto end of March, 2021
8. Additional housing loan deduction of INR 1.50 lakhs over the existing INR 2.00 lakhs for interest paid on purchase of affordable house upto INR 45 lakhs purchased till end of March, 2020
9. Inter-changeability of PAN and Aadhaar by allowing assessees to file Income Tax returns by just quoting Aadhaar number instead of PAN for those who do not have PAN
10. Faceless e-assessment involving no human interface to be launched from this year in a phased manner
11. Central Cell will issue notices electronically without disclosing the details of the assessing officer and this central cell will only be the contact point between the assessee and the assessing officer
12. TDS @ 2% applicable for cash withdrawals over INR 1 Crore in a year from any bank account
13. Business establishments with annual turnover over INR 50 crores to provide digital payment options to customers with no charges for customers or the merchants. RBI and the banks to absorb these costs
14. Surcharge on Individuals having annual income over INR 2 crores and over INR 5 crores of 3% and 7% respectively

Indirect Tax proposals:

1. Taxpayers having annual turnover of upto 5 crores will be required to file only quarterly returns
2. Proposal to have only one single monthly or quarterly return
3. Electronic invoicing system to be rolled out by Jan 2020; will eliminate the requirement for e-way bills

1. Sanjay Thampy

FCA, Grad. CWA, CS, DBM

sthampyca@gmail.com