In a sharp contrast to what was expected before the presentation of annual budget 2017-18, the Finance Minister on Wednesday announced the withdrawal of service charge on rail tickets booked through government-run IRCTC. He, however, did not change the current tax rates on all other services.
Jaitley announced alterations in the tax slabs that will help save people with the income between Rs 2.5 lakhs and Rs 3 lakhs about Rs 12,500 annually after he reduced the tax rate to 5 % from the existing 10 per cent.
Jaitley also proposed a new surcharge of 10 per cent on incomes between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore and raised duties on cigarettes and pan masala while stepping up allocations for infrastructure, rural, agriculture and social sectors.
In a relief to start-ups, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today proposed extending the time period for availing tax benefit for three years in the first seven years of existence.
Items like LED lamps, solar panels, printed circuit boards for mobiles, micro ATMs, finger-print machines and Iris scanners will potentially become cheaper.
On the other hand, silver coins, cigarettes and tobacco, bidis, pan masala, goods imported through parcels, water filter membranes and cashew nuts will become dearer.
To boost slowdown-hit real estate sector, the government today announced infrastructure status to affordable housing to encourage investment in this segment and offered tax sops for developers sitting on completed unsold inventories.
The government also capped maximum amount of cash donation to a political party to Rs 2,000 in the Budget 2017