On 1st Feb 2023 our finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, unveiled the union budget for the year 2023.

Major highlights of the 2023 budget: The Modi administration's goals are the construction of roads, highways, and railway lines, as seen by the Budget.  2023–24's budget continued emphasis on increasing Capex. With adjustments to the new income tax system, the middle class has received some comfort, making it quite evident that the government intends to switch from the old system to the new one. With a target of 5.9% in FY 24 and adherence to the target for the current year, the FM committed to the fiscal deficit path outlined in the Budget. This is good news because a large deficit would have raised concerns about how to close the gap.

The Budget was expected to contain a number of populist policies as well as policies that would help India to reach its goal of a $5 trillion economy. Addressing the ongoing issues and preparing the country for the coming decades are the goals of this budget. To increase the economy's consumption, reduce the burden of compliance, aid MSMEs and the middle class, and simplify and streamline the tax system, a number of measures were included.

Seven priorities were listed in the budget: financial sector, youth power, green growth, unleashing potential, infrastructure and investment, and inclusive development. Let's break down the 2023 Budget.

VISION FOR AMRIT KAAL:

  • Opportunities for youngsters
  • Vision for generating more employment
  • Strong and stable micro economic environment

SEVEN PRIORITIES OF THE BUDGET, 'SAPTARISHI'

  • Inclusive development.
  • Reaching the last mile.
  • Infrastructure and investment.
  • Unleashing the potential.
  • Green growth.
  • Youth power.
  • Financial sector.

INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT

  • Agriculture Accelerator funding will be established to help with startup. With a value chain approach, this will give farmers an innovative and cheap alternative to boost production and longevity.
  • Government has planned to establish 157 new nursing colleges in core location
  • Craftspeople and traditional artisans will get assistance for their development

REACHING THE LAST MILE

  • Proposed spending Rs 15,000 crores over the following three years for the recently launched Pradhan Mantri PVTG (Primitive Vulnerable Tribal Group) to better the socioeconomic situations of the vulnerable tribes.
  • Outlay on the PM Awaas Yojana increased by 66% to more over Rs 79,000 crores.
  • The centre intends to engage 38,800 teachers and other staff over the next three years to serve 3.5 lakh indigenous students in 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT

  • The proposed capital expenditure has been increased by 33% to INR 10 Lakhs crores.
  • Government has planned to provide 50-year interest free loan to state governmemnts for one more year resulting in an outflow of INR 1.3 lakh crore.
  • 2.4 lakh crore in planned expenditures for the railways
  • To improve regional aviation connectivity, 50 airports, heliports, water aerodromes, and advanced landing fields will be renovated.
  • To build urban infrastructure in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, the Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (UIDF) will be established with an annual investment of Rs 10,000 crore.

UNLEASHING THE POTENTIAL

  • Vivad se Vishwas I: The government and its undertakings will return 95% of the forfeited amount due to bid or performance security if MSMEs failed to execute their contracts during the Covid period.
  • The KYC procedure will be simplified, and PAN cards would be used as a single form of identification.
  • The introduction of a national data governance policy will give startups, academic institutions, and others access to anonymised data for research and innovation.
  • 34,000 rules have been decriminalised, and 39,000 violations have been decreased in order to make doing business in India easier.
  • To realise the goal of "Make AI in India and Make AI work for India," three centres of excellence for artificial intelligence (AI) will be established in premier educational institutions.
  • It will be unnecessary to file the same information with various government entities thanks to a unified filing method. Now, individuals will be able to willingly share the data with other governmental organisations via a single interface

GREEN GROWTH

In order to achieve net zero carbon emissions in India by 2070, the government designated "Green Growth" as one of the budget's seven key areas of concentration. The following announcements were made to support this:

  • Green hydrogen: Awarded Rs 19,700 crore for the National Green Hydrogen Mission, which will support a transition to low carbon intensity in the economy, reduce dependency on fossil fuel imports, and establish the nation as a technology and market leader in this expanding industry.
  • Energy transmission: It is proposed to invest a total of Rs 20,700 crore in a transmission infrastructure for 13 GW of renewable energy from Ladakh, including Rs 8,300 crore in central support.
  • Green credit programme: The Environment Protection Act was amended to include a green credit scheme to promote ecologically responsible conduct.
  • In addition to providing assistance to states in replacing their outdated vehicles and state ambulances, money has been allotted for the scrapping of old vehicles owned by the federal government.
  • Energy transition: Rs 35,000 crores were allotted for significant capital expenditures in order to achieve energy transition, hit net zero targets, and improve energy security.
  • Battery storage: 4,000 MWh of battery energy storage systems now have access to viability gap funding.

YOUTH POWER

  • To provide thousands of young people with modern training, the PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 will be introduced.
  • Over the next three years, the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme would use Direct Benefit Transfer to pay stipends to 47 lakh young people (DBT).

     

FOR DIRECT TAX PAYERS

  • No changes in the old tax regime
  • New tax regime to become the default tax regime. However, citizens can opt for the old tax regime.
  • No tax on income up to Rs 7.5 lakh a year in new tax regime (with inclusion of standard deduction)
  • Govt proposes to reduce highest surcharge rate from 37% to 25% in new tax regime for people earning more than INR 5 crores, this will effect in reduction of tax rate from 42.74% to 39%.
  • A Rs 50,000 standard deduction to taxpayers has been introduced under the new regime
  • Tax exemption removed in insurance policies with premium over Rs 5 lakhs
  • Any payment received from agniveer corpus fund by agniveers will be exempted
  • TDS and taxability on income earned from online games at the time of withdrawal or at the end of fiscal year.
  • Exemption on taxability of leave encashment of government employees increased from INR 3 Lakhs to 25 Lakhs
  • Government has planned to roll out next-generation common IT return Form for tax payers convenience.
  • Government has planned to enhance Grievance redressal mechanism.
  • Taxable portion of EPF withdrawal in non-PAN cases TDS rates to be reduced from 30% to 20%
  • Payment-Based Deduction: Payments to MSME are only permitted as expenses when they are actually made. By doing this, "payments to MSME" fall under Section 43B's
  • No Penalty: Under Section 269SS or 269ST, no penalty would apply when a primary agricultural credit society, a primary co-operative agricultural and rural development bank, accepted or repaid a loan to its members, or vice versa.
  • Limit on Capital Gains Exemption: The Sections 54 to 54F capital gains tax exemption is capped at Rs. 10 crores. There was no threshold earlier.

NEW INCOME TAX SLABS UNDER NEW TAX REGIMES

Income upto

Tax rates

Rs 0-3 lakh

Nil

Rs 3-6 lakhs

5%

Rs 6-9 lakhs

10%
 

Rs 9-12 lakhs

15%

Rs 12-15 lakhs

20%
 

Rs Over 15 lakhs

30%
 

 

TAX LIMITS REVISED FOR PRESUMPTIVE TAXATION FOR FY 2023-24

Category

Current

Revised

Business which falls under section 44AD (small Businesses)

INR 2 crores

INR 3 Crores

Business which falls under section 44DA (for professionals like doctors, lawyers engineers and others)

INR 50 Lakhs

INR 75 Lakhs

The condition for the revised limit: 95% of receipts must be through online channels

 

FOR START-UPS

 

Current limit

Revised Limit

Date of incorporation for income tax benefits

31st March 2023

31st March 2024

For carrying forward of losses

7 years from the date incorporation

10 years from the date of incorporation

The only requirement is that the shares must still be held by the shareholders with at least 51% of the voting power during the year in which the loss is to be carried forward and set off.

 

FOR CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES

Some of the ideas made for cooperative societies include:

  • New manufacturing initiatives: The government has given new cooperatives that start manufacturing by March 31st, 2024, the benefit of a 15% tax rate discount.
  • Sugar cooperatives: You can now claim any expenses that were previously forbidden to sugar cooperatives by submitting an application to the Assessing Officer.
  • Section 194N: For cooperative organisations, the TDS ceiling on cash withdrawals has been raised to Rs. 3 crores.
  • Cash deposit cap: The cap on cash deposits and loans made by Primary Co-operative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (PCARDBs) and Primary Agricultural Co-operative Societies (PACS) has been raised to a maximum of 200,000 per member.

     

INDIRECT TAX

Customs

The indirect tax measures included in Budget 2023 encourage domestic manufacturing; raise domestic value addition, support exports, and advance green energy and transportation.

The following list of commodities had their customs duties changed:

Items

Benefits

Capital goods imported for lithium-ion battery manufacturing

For greener mobility

Lens of mobile camera

Reducing value addition

Denatured ethyl alcohol

Benefits the chemical industry

Main ingredients for preparing Shrimp feed

Enhancing Marine exports

Lab-grown diamonds manufacturing seeds

Export promotion

Concession on BCD of copper scrap

Raw material availability for MSMes

  • NCCD (National Calamity Contingent Duty) on specified cigarettes is increased
  • To match the customs charge on gold and platinum, the importation of silver dore, bars, and other items has increased. Additionally, there are higher taxes on jewellery made of precious metals including gold, silver, and platinum.
  • Extensions are given to the BCD exemptions for ferrous scrap, nickel cathode, and raw materials used to make CRGO steel.
  • The basic customs charge on seeds used to produce lab-grown diamonds has been decreased by FM (LGDs).
  • The fundamental customs tax on electric kitchen chimneys has gone raised.
  • To promote domestic television production, FM decreased the basic customs tariff on components of open TV panel cells.
  • Additionally, the excise charge on compressed biogas that has already been mixed and paid for with GST is exempt.

GST

  • A taxpayer can now choose to participate in the composition scheme under Section 10 even if they are selling items through online retailers and TCS is being collected in accordance with Section 52.
  • It is now required by Section 16 that recipients taxpayers pay interest calculated in accordance with Section 50 on amounts they fail to pay to their suppliers, including GST, within 180 days of the invoice's issue date.
  • Expenditure on CSR effort for corporates is now listed as another item under "ineligible ITC" non Section 17(5).
  • According to the new Section 17(3), high sea sales and similar transactions are not free from taxation because neither the delivery of goods or services is involved.
  • A restriction on filing GSTR-1 (return for outbound supplies), GSTR-3B (summary returns), GSTR-9 (annual returns), and GSTR-8 (e-commerce operator) for a tax period is imposed by amending Sections 37, 39, 44, and 52.
  • E-commerce operators who- -Allow an unregistered person to supply products or services or both through them, unless such person is exempt from GST registration, would be fined Rs. 10,000 or an amount equal to the amount of tax involved, whichever is larger.
  • -Allow any registered person who is not qualified to do so from making an interstate supply of goods or services through them would be fined Rs. 10,000 or an amount equal to the amount of tax involved, whichever is larger.
  • -Never provide correct information on any transaction of commodities made through them by a person excluded from acquiring GST registration in the GSTR-8 would be fined Rs. 10,000 or an amount equal to the amount of tax involved, whichever is larger.
  • Offences which are decriminalised:
    • When someone hinders or stops an official from performing their duties under the CGST Act,
    • When someone tampers with or destroys tangible papers or evidence,
    • -When someone provides inaccurate information or omits to provide information that is needed to be provided by the CGST Act or Rules.
  • Businesses can now communicate GST data digitally with permission thanks to a new section 158A that has been added to the CGST Act. It specifies how and under what terms information provided by a registered individual on the GST site may be shared with other systems that may be notified, as stated in - GSTR-1/3B/9-filed returns, or Registration application, or Statement of supplies sent abroad, or creation of an electronic invoice or waybill

THINGS GOT CHEAPER AND EXPENSIVE

Things got cheaper

Things got costlier

Gold

Travelling through flight

TV

Imitation Jewellary

Smartphones

Cigarettes

Compressed Gas for EVs

Silver

Lab grown diamonds

Bicycles

Lithium-ion batteries for mobile

Electric Kitchen Chimney

 

Industrial rubber

SAVING SCHEMES ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

  • Government has enhanced maximum deposit limit for senior citizen from INR 15 Lakhs to 30 Lakhs under senior citizen saving scheme (SCSS).
  • The limit of monthly income scheme would be double to INR 9 lakhs  and 15 Lakhs for joint accounts
  • Mahila Samman Saving Certificate, a one-time new saving programme for women, will be offered for two years, through March 2025.
  • It will provide a deposit facility of up to Rs 2 lakh for a 2-year term with a fixed interest rate of 7.5% and the option of partial withdrawal.

RAILWAYS GETS MASSIVE BOOST

  • Government has allocated 2.4 Lakh crore fund for railways working and development in FY 2024, this is the highest ever allocation for railways which is nine time of the allocation which was made in FY 2014
  • For railway track allocation has been increased from last year which was 15,388.05 crores and in current year this is increased to 17,296.84 crores.
  • 75 Vande Bharat trains will be roll out by railway this year which will achieved by August 2023.

CAPEX HIKED

 

  • A capital investment of Rs 10 lakh crore, a significant increase of 33% for the third year in a row, to boost economic potential and job creation, attract private investments, and act as a buffer against global headwinds.
  • INR 13.7 Lakhs crores will be consider as effective capital expenditure of centre.
  • In FY 2024 capital investment outlay to be 3.3% of GDP
  • To increase chances for private investment in infrastructure, a new Infrastructure Finance Secretariat is proposed to be established.

DEFENCE

  • Government allocated fund for defence which is of INR 5.94 Lakhs Crores
  • Rs 1.62 lakh crore set aside for capital expenditures, which includes buying new weapons, aircraft, battleships, and other military equipment.
  • The budgetary allotment for capital outlay for 2022–23 was Rs 1.52 lakh crore.
  • The Border Roads Organization's capital budget was boosted to Rs 5,000 crore.
  • The Indian Air Force's capital expenditure was the largest, coming in at Rs 57,137.09 crore.
  • A sum of Rs 52,804 crore was set aside for the Indian Navy's capital expenditure.
  • The Army's capital expenditure is estimated to be about Rs 37,241 crore.
  • Rs 23,264 crore has been set aside for the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO).

FISCAL POSITION

  • By 2025–2026, the fiscal deficit is aimed to be below 4.5%.
  • The Revised Estimate for FY23 maintains the fiscal deficit objective of 6.4%; it is lowered to 5.9% for FY24.
  • In FY24, gross market borrowing was estimated at Rs 15.43 trillion.
  • Net market borrowing was Rs 11.8 lakh crore in FY24.
  • The revised projection for FY23 net tax collections is Rs 20.9 lakh crore.
  • The revised estimate for overall expenditures for FY23 is Rs. 41.9 lakh crore.
  • Total receipts other than borrowing estimated at Rs 24.3 lakh crore for FY23
  • Net tax collections for FY24 were $23.3 billion.

MSME

  • A revised credit guarantee for MSMEs will go into effect on April 1, 2023, with a corpus injection of Rs 9,000 crore.
  • The programme would allow for an additional Rs 2 lakh crore of collateral-free guaranteed credit while also lowering the cost of the credit by roughly 1%.

BANKING

  • The government proposes changes to the Banking Regulation Act to enhance banking governance

AVIATION & HIGHWAYS

 

  • To increase regional air connection, 50 more airports, helipods, water aero drones, and sophisticated landing grounds will be revived.
  • The roads sector will receive an increased allocation of Rs 2.70 lakh crore under the Union Budget for 2023–24.
  • The amount allotted to the NHAI increased by 13.90% to Rs 1.62 lakh crore for 2023–24.

EASE OF DOING BUSINESS

 

  • The government will introduce a new dispute settlement plan To resolve business disagreements, through Vivad Se Vishwas 2.
  • PAN will be used as a universal identifier for all government entities' digital systems
  • Establishing a single point of contact for updating identities kept by numerous authorities using digi locker and Aadhaar as foundational identity
  • A Central Processing Center will be established to facilitate quicker response to company filings under the Companies Act
  • To make doing business easier, over 3,400 law provisions have been decriminalised and over 39,000 compliances have been lowered.
  • To advance trust-based government, the Jan Vishwas Bill to alter 42 Central Acts has been introduced.

INTEREST-FREE LOAN TO STATES TO CONTINUE

The Center will give state governments a 50-year, interest-free loan for another year.

EDUCATION

  • Three artificial intelligence centres of excellence will be established in prestigious universities.
  • 157 new nursing colleges will open in conjunction with the 157 medical colleges that have already been operational since 2014.
  • Residential schools modelled after Eklavaya will be built during the following three years. 38,800 teachers and support staff will be hired by the Center to work in 740 schools that will serve 3.5 lakh tribal students.
  • The National Data Governance Policy will be released to encourage research and innovation among universities and start-ups.
  • The University Grants Commission (UGC) has received an increase in grant funding of Rs. 459 crores (9.37 pc).

FREE FOOD SCHEME TO CONTINUE TILL 2024

  • As part of our ongoing commitment to ensuring food security, starting on January 1, 2023, we'll be establishing a programme under PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojna that will provide free food grains to all Antyodaya and priority households for a whole year. 
  • During the COVID pandemic, we implemented a programme to provide free food grains to more than 80 crore people for a period of 28 months, ensuring that nobody goes to bed hungry.

TOURISM

 

  • States will actively participate in the mission to promote tourism, which will bring together government initiatives and public-private partnerships.
  • 50 vacation spots will be chosen through the challenge mode and built as a complete package for both domestic and foreign visitors.
  • States will be encouraged to establish a "Unity Mall" in their state capital or in the busiest tourist area to promote and sell "One District, One Product" and other handicrafts.