The finance minister has presented the new budget on July 23, 2024. The expenditure in the budget envisages sustained efforts on the following 9 priorities for generating ample opportunities for all:
- Productivity and resilience in Agriculture: Digital Public Infrastructure for Agriculture shall be developed and National Cooperation Policy shall be enacted.
- Employment & Skilling: 3 employment incentive schemes shall be implemented, including one for fresh employees in labor market, one for Job Creation in manufacturing and one for support of employers in introduced.
- Inclusive Human Resource Development and Social Justice: Implementation of schemes meant for supporting economic activities by craftsmen, artisans, self-help groups, scheduled caste, schedule tribe and women entrepreneurs, and street vendors, such as PM Vishwakarma, PM SVANidhi, National Livelihood Missions, and Stand-Up India will be stepped up.
- Manufacturing & Services: The services of the Centre for Processing Accelerated Corporate Exit (C-PACE) will be extended for voluntary closure of LLPs to reduce the closure time. Special attention to MSMEs, E-commerce and industrial parks. New company law tribunals shall be established to promote speedy insolvency resolution.
- Urban Development: Focus on housing, water supply, sanitation, reduction of stamp duty and further lowering duties for properties purchased by women.
- Energy Security: A policy for promoting pumped storage projects will be brought out for electricity storage and facilitating smooth integration of the growing share of renewable energy with its variable & intermittent nature in the overall energy mix.
- Infrastructure : Investment in infrastructure by private sector will be promoted through viability gap funding and enabling policies and regulations. A market-based financing framework will be
brought out. - Innovation, Research & Development: Anusandhan National Research Fund for basic research and prototype development shall be introduced and a mechanism for spurring private sector-driven research and innovation at commercial scale with a financing pool of ` 1 lakh crore will be set up.
- Next Generation Reforms: Economic Policy Framework to delineate the overarching approach to economic development and set the scope of the next generation of reforms for facilitating employment opportunities and sustaining high growth.
Taxation
Custom duty exemption is provided to following products and services:
- Cancer medicines
- Mobile Phone and Related Parts
- Critical Minerals
- Solar Energy
- Marine products
- Leather and Textile
- Precious Metals
- Other Metals
- Electronics
- Chemicals and Petrochemicals
- Plastics
- Telecommunication Equipment
- Trade facilitation
Further, following changes are suggested to direct tax regime:
- The two tax exemption regimes for charities are proposed to be merged into one.
- Comprehensive Review of the Income-tax Act, 1961
- An assessment hereinafter can be reopened beyond three years from the end of the assessment year only if the escaped income is ₹ 50 lakh or more, up to a maximum period of five years from the end of the assessment year.
- Capital gains taxation is also proposed to be hugely simplified.
- All the major tax payer services under GST and most services under Customs and Income Tax have been digitalised. All remaining services of Customs and Income Tax including rectification and order giving effect to appellate orders shall be digitalized and made paper-less over the next two years.
- Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme, 2024 will be implemented.
- Abolition of the so-called angel tax for all classes of investors.
- Tax relaxations for foreign companies.
