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Union Budget 2023 Highlights: Download PDF, Key Highlights And Important Points

Budget 2023-24: Roadmap for a brighter future of India

Updated on: 16 Jan, 2024 05:49 PM

Here is a detailed analysis of all the announcements made by our finance minister in the last full budget of the Modi government before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Budget 2023 was presented by the Hon’ble Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1st Feb 2023 around 11 am. This was the fifth budget speech of the Finance Minister in parliament. This budget holds high significance as it is the last budget of the current government before parliamentary elections.

The finance minister announced that India’s economic growth for FY 2022-23 is estimated at 7%, the highest among all the major economies. Even after the global slowdown caused due to the Covid-19 Pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, attaining this growth is commendable. The projected GDP growth in 2024 is expected to be 6.5%.

This budget laid a strong foundation to steer the Indian economy towards Amrit Kaal. Through Amrit Kaal, the vision of India is to build a robust economy that will be technology-driven and knowledge-based. To achieve this objective, the finance minister has listed seven key priorities termed “Saptrishi,” which include the following:-

Let us know what each sector got

Salaried individual (personal tax)

The basic exemption limit has been raised to Rs 3 lakh from Rs 2.5 lakh to make the new tax regime more attractive. Also, the highest tax rate of 30% will be levied above Rs 15 lakh income.
In the budget 2023-24 announcement, the rebate under section 87A has been hiked to Rs 7 lakh from Rs 5 lakh under the new tax regime. The rebate benefit will be up to Rs 25000, provided income doesn't exceed the limit of 7 lakhs.
The proposal to introduce the standard deduction in the new tax regime has been shared. As per this salaried class, the pensioners, including family pensioners, will benefit from a standard deduction of Rs. 50,000/-
Also, the exemption of a family pension of Rs. 15,000 has been introduced under the new tax regime.
As per the presumptive taxation scheme, a taxpayer benefits from the exemption from maintaining books of account. This scheme is explained under Sections 44AD, 44ADA, and 44AE of the Income Tax Act. FM has proposed to increase the turnover limits under section 44AD from Rs. 2 crores to Rs.3 crores for specified businesses, including Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The Budget 2023 has also amended section 44ADA and revised the presumptive taxation limits of gross receipts from previous limits of Rs. 50 Lakhs to revised limits of Rs. 75 lakhs for specified professions.
Reduction in the surcharge on annual income above 5 crores from 37% to 25% under the new regime. Currently, the highest tax rate is 42.74%, which would slash the maximum tax rate to 39% after this reduction.
The limit of Rs. 3 lakh for tax exemption on leave encashment on non-government salaried employees has been raised to Rs. 25 lakh.
Under Sections 54 and 54F, a limit is proposed for capital gains on investment in residential houses. The government put a cap of Rs 10 crore on the capital gains on which exemption will be available. For instance, if the capital gain or net consideration is more than Rs. 10 crores, then exemption u/s 54 and 54F can be claimed only up to Rs. 10 crores.
As per the announcement in the Budget 2023-24, income from traditional insurance policies where the premium is more than Rs 5 lakh will not be tax-free.
In non-PAN cases, the TDS rate has been reduced from 30% to 20% on the taxable portion of EPF withdrawals. (No TDS is deducted if withdrawal is made after 5 years.)
As per the announcement in budget 2023, a proposal is made to make the payment received by the ‘Agniveers’ from the Agniveer Corpus Fund tax-free.
For online games, govt proposes to provide for TDS and taxability on net winnings at the time of withdrawal or the end of the fiscal year.
Furthermore, the new tax regime has reduced the income tax slabs from 6 to 5. The revised tax structure as per the new tax regime is:-

You can calculate your estimated income tax after the amendments made in Union Budget 2023-24 here.

Business/ Professionals

The date for the incorporation of income tax benefits to start-ups has been extended to March 31, 2024, from March 31, 2023.
Agriculture- accelerator fund will be set up to encourage agri-startups by young entrepreneurs.
A Digilocker entity will be set up to secure and share the documents online.
A higher limit of Rs. 3 crores for TDS on cash withdrawal will be provided to cooperative societies.

Infra

Capex's outlay increased by 33% to 10 lakh crore
Capital investment outlay increased for the third time in a row.
For railways, a capital outlay of Rs 2.4 lakh crore
PM Awaas Yojana outlay extended from 66% to over Rs 79,000 crore.
With the investment of Rs 75,000 crore, 100 transport infrastructure projects are to be taken up.
50 new heliports, aerodromes, and airports
Interest-free loan continuation to state govt to incentivize infra investment.

Health

157 new nursing colleges will be established
A mission to eradicate Sickle Cell Anemia by 2047
To promote research in pharma, new programs will be launched.

Farmers

The agriculture credit target will be increased to Rs 20 lakh to focus on dairy, fisheries, and animal husbandry.
Free grains will be supplied to all priority households until December 23 at Rs 2 lakh crore.
10,000 bio-input resource centers and networks will be set up to distribute micro fertilizer and pesticides. This will support 1 crore farmers.
PM Pranam's scheme for farmers to give them access to better fertilizers.
Planning will be done on making India a global hub for millet.
Rs 2200 crore for the Atmanirbhar Clean Plant program
PM Matsya Sampada Yojana, with an investment of 6,000 crore

Green energy

Companies promoting environmentally sustainable actions will be incentivized with a green credit program.
500 new waste-to-wealth plants at a total investment of Rs 10,000 crore.
Rs 20,700 crore for renewable energy plan in Laddakh.
For energy transition-Rs, 35,000 crores
Customs duty will be exempted on the import of machinery required to manufacture EV batteries.
Excise duty benefit on blended CNG.
The government is targeting 5 MT of green hydrogen production by 2030.

Education

38,000 teachers to be recruited in 3 years for the 740 Eklavya Model Residential schools.
Physical libraries to be set up in rural areas
A national digital library for children and adolescents
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 is to be set up to skill the youths.
New-age courses like AI, Coding, Drone, Robotics, and 3D printing are to be covered.

Women

Small saving schemes will be launched for women to empower them. Mahila Samman Savings Certificate for 2 years up to March 2025.

Senior Citizens

The maximum deposit limit for the senior citizen savings scheme will be enhanced to Rs 30 lakhs from Rs 15 lakhs.

Financial sector

FY24 fiscal deficit target at 5.9%.
The KYC process will be streamlined, and PAN cards will be adopted as a single identifier.
Starting in 2023, the credit guarantee schemes for MSMEs will be revamped, with an infusion of Rs 9,000 crore. This will provide additional collateral-free guaranteed credit of Rs 2 lakh crore. Further, the cost of the credit will be reduced by nearly 1%.
The government will Implement a unified IT system for registration and approval from SEZ authorities, IFSCA, GSTN, SEBI, RBI, and IRDAI.
A Central Processing Center will be established through centralized authorization to provide quicker responses to businesses under the Companies Act.
An integrated IT portal will be set up for the investors to reclaim unclaimed shares and unpaid dividends from the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA).

GST Changes

Change in Sec 10 of CGST Act (Composition scheme for the supplier of Goods via E-commerce)
Change in Sec 16 of CGST Act
Changes in Section 17(3) of CGST Act
Insertion in Section 17 (5) (fa) of CGST Act
Changes in Section 23 of the CGST Act
Insertion in Section 37 (5) of CGST Act
Insertion in Section 39 (11) of CGST Act
Insertion in Section 44 (2) of CGST Act
Insertion in Section 52 (15) of CGST Act
Omission in Section 54 (6) of CGST
Substitution in Section 56 of the CGST Act
Insertion in Section 122 (1B) of CGST Act
Amendment in Sections 132 & 138 of the CSGT Act
Insertion in Sch-3 to CGST Act, with retrospective effect
Insertion of 158 A in CGST Act
Deletion of the proviso to Section 12(8) of IGST act
Substitution to section 2 (16) of the IGST Act
Clause (17) has been amended to remove the condition of rendering of the said supply being essentially automated and involving minimal human intervention.

What got Cheaper and What’s Dearer?

Cheaper ????	Dearer ????
Custom duty cut on import of certain inputs for mobile manufacturing	Kitchen chimney custom duty price hiked from 7.5% to 15%
Custom duty on Shrimp feed	Imported bicycles and toys
Domestically-manufactured TV sets	Fully imported cars and Electric Vehicles
Fish lipid oil used in manufacturing aquatic feed	Imitation jewelry
Basic custom duty to reduced on seeds for lab-grown diamonds	Compounded rubber import duty raised to 25%
Machinery for manufacturing lithium-ion cell to be used in electric vehicles.	Custom duty hike on articles made from gold bars
Denatured Ethyl Alcohol	Taxes in cigarettes raised by 16%
Raw material required for the manufacture of CRGO Steel, ferrous scrap and nickel cathode	Silver dores, bars, articles

Budget Speech

[Updated] Union Budget 2023
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