February starts with the Finance Minister announcing the budget for the year. Everyone was glued to their screens when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivered the Union Budget 2023, her fifth one, in the Lok Sabha on February 1. The new Union Budget saw some major changes, with many reforms providing relief to middle-class earners.
The key takeaway from the budget was the new tax regime. New income tax slabs were announced by the Finance Minister in which no taxes will be applicable on income up to INR 7 lakh. “The income rebate limit increased to INR 7 lakhs from INR 5 lakhs in the new tax regime,” declared Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. However, for anyone earning above INR 7 lakh, the new tax regime will be applicable
Here are the other tax changes you should note.
Union Budget 2023: Costlier cigarettes, changes in PAN Card and other key takeaways
New income tax slabs
The income tax slabs have not been changed since 2014. There will be no tax for income up to INR 3 lakh. For income between INR 3-6 lakh, a 5% tax will be charged. 10% tax will be charged for income between INR 6-9 lakhs. For income between INR 9-12 lakhs, the tax charged will be 15% and for income between INR 12-15 lakhs, 20% tax will be charged.
What will become cheaper?
According to the new regime, gold and platinum (including gold plated with platinum) unfinished or in semi-manufactured forms will become cheaper. Gold in powder form, base metals or silver, clad with gold will also become cheaper. Aeroplanes and other aircraft parts including new or retreaded pneumatic tyres of rubber, of a kind will also become cheap. TV and camera parts will also see a price drop.
Imports will become more expensive
Vehicles (including electric vehicles), articles of precious metals, imitation jewellery, electric kitchen chimneys, bicycles, toys and parts of toys (other than parts of electronic toys) will become more expensive. National calamity contingent duty has been increased by 16% on specified cigarettes. This will mean that cigarettes will get more expensive.
Custom duty and its effect on purchases of phones
Ever since 2014, mobile phone production in India increased from 5.8 crore units to 31 crore units. The value increased from INR 18,900 crores in 2014-15 to INR 2,75,000 crore in the last fiscal year. There will be some relief in customs duty on the import of certain parts of mobile phones like camera lenses and batteries by another year, indicating that the prices for phones will go down as well.
Update on PAN Card
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman revealed during the Union Budget 2023-24 that the permanent account number (PAN) will be legalised to become a single business identification. This will allow businesses to use PAN instead of other data as a unique identifier for entering into the national single-window system.
Relief for the aviation and railway sector
To improve regional air connectivity, 50 additional airports, helipads, water aero drones, and advanced landing grounds will be erected. The highest-ever allocation for Railways will be done. An outlay of INR 2.4 lakh crore has been provided for railways in FY24.
All images: Courtesy Shutterstock
Ananya Swaroop
Cinema has always fascinated Ananya, so much that she got a degree in media to know more about it. She has worked for magazines like Man's World India and CineBlitz as an entertainment writer. When not writing about films and celebrities, she likes to travel to new places or try new cuisines. Travel and Food are her latest interests and she is looking forward to explore these further.
