​UNION BUDGET 2025 FOR FY 2025-26

PRE-BUDGET CONSULTATIONS BEGIN

Dated 09.12.2024 : Ms Nirmala Sitharaman , the Finance Minister , has started pre-budget consultations with various stakeholders and she has completed two rounds of talks .

In the first round , pre-budget consultations were held with the leading economists at a meeting chaired by Hon'ble Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and accompanied by the Finance Secretary, Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, and the Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India. These discussions aimed to gather valuable inputs for the upcoming Union Budget, ensuring it is inclusive and focused on growth. The consultations provided a platform to understand diverse perspectives and shape policies aligned with the nation's economic priorities.

The second Pre-Budget Consultation with various farmer associations and leading agricultural economists in connection with the forthcoming Union Budget 2025-26, in New Delhi, on saturday. The Pre-Budget Consultation was held with the stakeholders from Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

Union Minister of State for Finance Shri P.P Chaudhary also attended the Pre-Budget consultation meeting along with the Finance Secretary and Secretary, D/o Expenditure; Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs , and senior officers from the Finance ministry and Chief Economic Adviser, Government of India.

HIGHLIGHT OF BUDGET 2024 : NO CHANGE IN DIRECT OR INDIRECT TAXES

Dated 23.07.2024 : Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman was scheduled to present the Union Budget for FY 2023-24 today at 11.am .

FM Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman began her budget speech as scheduled .

DIRECT TAX PROPOSALS :

• Short term gains of financial assets to attract 20% tax rate

• Long term gains on all financial an non-financial assets to attract a tax rate of 12.5%

• Increase in limit of exemption of capital gains on financial assets to ₹1.25 lakh per year ,

• Abolish ANGEL tax for all classes of investors.

• Simpler tax regime to operate domestic cruise

• Provide for safe harbour rates for foreign mining companies (Selling raw diamonds)

• Corporate tax rate on foreign companies reduced from 40% to 35% .

Listed financial assets held for more than a year will be classified as long term, while unlisted financial assets and all non-financial assets will have to be held for at least two years to be classified as long-term .

Unlisted bonds and debentures, debt mutual funds and market linked debentures, irrespective of holding period, however, will attract tax on capital gains at applicable rates.

New Tax Regime :

Standard Deduction for salaried employees increased from ₹50,000 to ₹75,000

Deduction on family pension for pensioners increased from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000

NEW TAX REGIME TAX RATES REVISED AS FOLLOWS :

1. Up to Rs 3.00 lakhs income : NIL

2. Rs 3.00 lakhs to 7.00 lakhs income : 5 % tax

3 . Rs 7.00 lakhs to 10.00 lakhs income : 10 % tax

4 . Rs 10.00 lakhs to 12.00 lakhs income : 15 % tax

5 . Rs 12.00 lakhs to 15.00 lakhs income : 20 % tax

6. Above Rs 15 lakhs income : 30 % tax

​To read FM'S BUDGET SPEECH , CLICK HERE

FINANCE MINISTER'S BUDGET SPEECH OF 2023 :

HIGHLIGHTS : INCOME TAX LIMIT ENHANCED TO RS 7 LAKHS FROM EXISTING 5 LAKHS

​Dated 01.02.2023 : Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman was scheduled to present the Union Budget for FY 2023-24 today at 11.am .

1. FM Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman began her budget speech as scheduled .

2. FM enlisted the following priorities :

1) Inclusive Development
2) Reaching the Last Mile
3) Infrastructure and Investment
4) Unleashing the Potential
5) Green Growth
6) Youth Power
7) Financial Sector

3. The agriculture credit target will be increased to `Rs 20 lakh crore with focus on animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries.

4. Capital investment outlay is being increased steeply for the third year in a row by 33 per cent to ` 10 lakh crore, which would be 3.3 per cent of GDP.

5. A National Digital Library for children and adolescents will be set-up for facilitating availability of quality books across geographies, languages, genres and levels, and device agnostic accessibility.

6. The outlay for PM Awas Yojana is being enhanced by 66 per cent to over Rs 79,000 crore.

7. The KYC process will be simplified adopting a ‘risk-based’ instead of ‘one size fits all’ approach. The financial sector regulators will also be 15 encouraged to have a KYC system fully amenable to meet the needs of Digital India.

8. For the business establishments required to have a Permanent Account Number (PAN), the PAN will be used as the common identifier for all digital systems of specified government agencies. T

9 . Credit Guarantee Corporation will be provided additional funding of Rs 9,000 crores .

10. The maximum deposit limit for Senior Citizen Savings Scheme will be enhanced from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 30 lakh.

11. The maximum deposit limit for Monthly Income Account Scheme will be enhanced from Rs 4.5 lakh to Rs 9 lakh for single account and from `Rs9 lakh to Rs 15 lakh for joint account.

12. Banking Act will be amended .

13 . The Revised Estimate of the total receipts other than borrowings is `Rs 24.3 lakh crore, of which the net tax receipts are Rs` 20.9 lakh crore. The Revised Estimate of the total expenditure is Rs41.9 lakh crore, of which the capital expenditure is about ` 7.3 lakh crore.

​14 . For FY 2023-24, the total receipts other than borrowings and the total expenditure are estimated at Rs 27.2 lakh crore and Rs 45 lakh crore respectively. The net tax receipts are estimated at `Rs 23.3 lakh crore.

15. Indirect tax : Custom tax slabs will be reduced to 13 from 21 .

DIRECT TAX :

16 . A cap of Rs 10 crores is proposed for deduction from capital gains on investment in residential house under sections 54 and 54F . Another proposal with similar intent is to limit income tax exemption from proceeds of insurance policies with very high value.

17. Direct Tax : Common IT Return forms will be introduced

18. Following measures proposed

a. Removing the minimum threshold of ` 10,000/- for TDS and clarifying taxability relating to online gaming; 
b. Not treating conversion of gold into electronic gold receipt and vice versa as capital gain; 
c. Reducing the TDS rate from 30 per cent to 20 per cent on taxable portion of EPF withdrawal in non-PAN cases;
d. Taxation on income from Market Linked Debentures.

19. Currently, those with income up to Rs 5 lakh do not pay any income tax in both old and new tax regimes. FM proposed to increase the rebate limit to Rs 7 lakh in the new tax regime. Thus, persons in the new tax regime, with income up to Rs 7 lakh will not have to
pay any tax.

20 . NEW TAX SLABS UNDER NEW TAX REGIME
1. Upto Rs.3,00,000 Nil
2. From Rs.3,00,001 to Rs.6,00,000 5 per cent.
3. From Rs.6,00,001 to Rs.9,00,000 10 per cent.
4. From Rs.9,00,001 to Rs.12,00,000 15 per cent.
5. From Rs.12,00,001 to Rs.15,00,000 20 per cent.
​6. Above Rs.15,00,000 30 per cent.”;

a Tax rebate under Section 87 A is allowed up to an income of Rs 7. lakhs
b . Standard Deduction of Rs 50,000 allowed on salaries / pension
​C . To reduce the highest surcharge rate from 37 per cent to 25 per cent in the new tax regime
​21. Cash Deposits up to Rs 2 lakhs allowed for farmers toWards loan repayment in co-operative societies / rural banks .
​
22. NEW TAX REGIME WILL BE STANDARD TAX REGIME . However old tax regime will be permitted as optional .

23. For commemorating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, a one-time new small savings scheme, Mahila Samman Savings Certificate, will be made available for a two-year period up to March 2025. This will offer deposit facility upto `Rs 2 lakh in the name of women or girls for a tenor of 2 years at fixed interest rate of 7.5 per cent with partial withdrawal option.

24. The limit of Rs 3 lakh for tax exemption on leave encashment on retirement of non-government salaried employees will be enhanced to Rs 25 lakhs .


To go through Finance Bill 2023 , CLICK HERE To read FM Speech , CLICK HERE

UNION BUDGET 2022 - HIGHLIGHTS : NO CHANGE IN INCOME TAX SLABS / RATES
​
01.02.2022
​
​1. Finance Minister Ms Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union budget for the next financial year 2022-23 ( April 2022 to March 2023 to the parliament today morning

2. She says " Indian growth to be at 9.2 % , highest in the world ".

3. Strategic Sale of Air India has been completed . The strategic partner for NINL (Neelanchal Ispat Nigam Limited) has been selected. The public issue of the LIC is expected shortly. Others too are in the process for 2022-23. ​

4. PM Gatishakthi will fuel the economic growth

Roads ,Railways ,Airports , Ports , Mass transport , Waterways , Logistics infra are the components of Gathishakthi

5. FM outlines Health management scheme , Nari shakthi programme

6. Anganwadis to be strengthened .

7. North East India will be developed - Rs 1,500 crore to be spent

8. Aim to boost Digital banking . Fintech ideas - 75 Digital banking units to be opened

​9. 1486 Union Laws repealed .

10. E-Passports will be rolled out in Fy 22-23

11. 3 lakh crores for development of hospiytality sector

12. 60 lakh jobs will be created in next 5 years .

​13. 1460 crores for Hydro & solar projects .

14. End to end E-Bill system will be introduced

15. 48000 crores for Housing schemes
​
​16. All post offices will be connected digitally

17. 5G spectrum will be auctioned in 2022

18. CAPITAL EXPENDITURE OUTLAY WILL BE 7.50 LAKH CRORES FOR FY 22-23

-An increase of 35 % over the last year the outlay for capital expenditure in the Union Budget is once again being stepped up sharply by 35.4 per cent from ` 5.54 lakh crore in the current year to ` 7.50 lakh crore in 2022-23. This has increased to more than 2.2 times the expenditure of 2019-20. This outlay in 2022-23 will be 2.9 per cent of GDP.

19. Green bonds will be issued

20 . Digital Currency will be introduced by using blockchain model and will issued by RBI in fy 22-23 .

21 . Income Tax payers can submit updated return till completion of of 2 years of the relevant year after submission on payment of additional tax

22. Direct tax system will be reformed .

23. Crypto currencies to be taxed at 30 % of income , without allowing any rebates on any expenditure except cost of acquisition .

24. Cryptocurrency losses cannot be adjusted against any other income . ​

25. Tax to be paid by the receiver of Cryptocurrencies as gift .

( FM on virtual currencies " Accordingly, for the taxation of virtual digital assets, I propose to provide that any income from transfer of any virtual digital asset shall be taxed at the rate of 30 per cent.  No deduction in respect of any expenditure or allowance shall be allowed while computing such income except cost of acquisition. Further, loss from transfer of virtual digital asset cannot be set off against any other income.  Further, in order to capture the transaction details, I also propose to provide for TDS on payment made in relation to transfer of virtual digital asset at the rate of 1 per cent of such consideration above a monetary threshold.  Gift of virtual digital asset is also proposed to be taxed in the hands of the recipient. " )


FISCAL MANAGEMENT :
Coming to the Budget Estimates, the total expenditure in 2022-23 is estimated at ` 39.45 lakh crore, while the total receipts other than borrowings are estimated at ` 22.84 lakh crore. 118. The revised Fiscal Deficit in the current year is estimated at 6.9 per cent of GDP as against 6.8 per cent projected in the Budget Estimates. The Fiscal Deficit in 2022-23 is estimated at 6.4 per cent of GDP, which is consistent with the broad path of fiscal consolidation announced by me last year to reach a fiscal deficit level below 4.5 per cent by 2025-26. While setting the fiscal deficit level in 2022-23 .

​Finance Minister Ms Nirmala Sitharaman didn't announce any change in income tax slabs and rates for individual in the year Fy 22-23


​TO READ COMPLETE BUDGET SPEECH , CLICK HERE

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BUDGET SPEECH DELIVERED IN 01.02.2021 : NO CHANGE IN INCOME TAX RATES / CORPORATE TAX

​1. Finance Minister Ms Nirmala Sitharaman has begun her third presentation of union Budget for Fy 2021-22 at the scheduled time of 11.00 am today .
2. Rs 35,000 crores allotted for Covid Vaccine . New health infra scheme with higher outlay of Rs 61,000 crore .
3. capital expenditure up +34.5% against previous year at Rs 5.54 lakh crore.
4. Government to set-up a Development Finance Institution (DFI), with Rs 20,000 crore capitalization .
​5. Investor charter to be announced .
6. Insurance act to be amended which allows more FDI in insurance companies .
​7. Asset reconstruction company will be started .
8. Consolidate provisions of SEBI Act, Depositories Act, Securities Contracts Regulation Act, Government Securities Act will come under security code .
9 . To revise definition under Companies Act, 2013 for small companies by increasing their threshold for capitalization to not exceeding Rs 50 lakh to n Rs 2 crore and turnover not exceeding Rs 2 crore to Rs 20 crore.
10 . To privatise 2 Public Sector banks, one general insurance company in FY22: .
11. Rs 20,000 crore for bank recapitalisation .
​12. Re-assessment of IT RETURNS ONLY WITHIN 3 YEARS .
13 . ​FY21 fiscal deficit at 9.5 Rs 35,000 crores .
14. Pensioners who have income of pension and interest only and over 75 years of age are exempt from filing IT returns .
​15 . Pre-filled tax forms will include capital gain , dividend income and interest income from banks , post offices .
16. Review of custom duty structure and new system from 01.10.2021 .
17 . Extension of tax holiday for start-ups by one more year.
18 . Govt to extend eligibility of erstwhile tax benefit on home loan up to 31.03 2022
19. To establish a National Faceless Income Tax Appellate Tribunal Centre

TO READ FM'S BUDGET SPEECH IN ENGLISH , CLICK HERE

EARLIER BUDGET PRESENTATIONS OF MS NIRMALA SITHARAMAN :

HIGHLIGHTS OF UNION BUDGET 20-21 PRESENTED BY FM NIRMALA SITHARAMAN :

1. Ms Nirmala Sitharaman delivered her second presentation of union Budget for Fy 2020-21 at the scheduled time of 11.00 am on 01.02.2020
​2. Allocations : Rs 20,000 crores for renewable energy sector , Rs 1.00 lakh crores for education , Rs 69,000 crores for Health Care sector
3. Tax Payer's charter will be introduced in statute .
4. National recruitment Agency will be instituted for common entrance to bank jobs and non-gazetted posts in the government .
5. FM assures that Depositor's money would be safe .
5. DICGC INSURANCE WILL BE INCREASED TO RS 5.00 LAKHS FROM EXISTING RS 1.00 LAKH
​6. Holding Company for LIC will be established via IPO
7. FISCAL DEFICIT FOR 2019-20 ESTIMATED AT 3.8 % AGAINST EARLIER COMMITMENT OF 3.3 %
DIRECT TAX :

​8. SIMPLIFIED INDIVIDUAL TAX REGIME WILL BE INTRODUCED .

PROVIDED YOU FORGO EXEMPTIONS AND RELIEFS ,
9 . NO CHANGE AT 5 % FROM RS 2,50,000 RS 5 .00 LAKHS
10 INCOME TAX AT 10 % BETWEEN 5 LAKHS AND RS 7.5 LAKHS
11 INCOME TAX AT 15 % BETWEEN 7.5 LAKHS AND RS 10 LAKHS
12. INCOME TAX AT 2O % BETWEEN 10 LAKHS AND RS 12.5 LAKHS
13 . INCOME TAX AT 25 % BETWEEN 12.5 LAKHS AND RS 15 LAKHS
( WE ARE AWAITING FOR CLARIFICATION ON WHICH EXEMPTION AND RELIEF TO BE FOREGONE )
14. PRE-FILLED ITR FORMS WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE
​15. Dividend Distribution Tax removed , but dividends to be added to individual incomes
​16. PAN will be allotted on line on the basis of Aadhaar
17 . IF YOU DON'T WANT FORGO RELIEFS AND EXEMPTIONS , YOU CAN CONTINUE WITH OLD SLABS .

​TO READ FINANCE BILL , CLICK HERE TO READ FM SPEECH , CLICK HERE
​FOR KEY FEATURES OF THE BUDGET , CLICK HERE ​

TAX PLANNING FOR FY 2024-25 ( AY 2025-26 )
Comprehensive Article on Income Tax Changes in Rules, Rates, Slabs , Rebates and Estimation

CLICK HERE TO READ