Post the chaos faced by the virtue of Demonetisation, the Aam Aadmi of India was hopeful of a liberal budget. And the budget did stand up to the expectations of the Common Man to some extent. The Budget 2017 has brought some good news for the common man. Following are some key highlights of the budget which a Common Man should know:
Tax: Individual Taxation has witnessed a number of welcome changes in this budget,
The biggest announcement made for the Common Man is the slashing of tax rate by 5% for individuals falling in the Rs 2.5 Lakh – Rs 5 Lakh Slab. This is a big relief for the taxpayers. There is a tax rebate of Rs 2,500 for individuals having an income of less than Rs 3.5 Lacs. This means if the income is Rs 3 Lacs, there will be zero tax liability, if the income is Rs 3.5 Lacs, then the tax payable will be Rs 2,500 only and if the limit of Rs 1.5 lakh under Section 80C is fully used, then the tax liability would again be zero for people with an income of Rs 4.5 lakh. For individuals falling in the subsequent slabs, there is a benefit of Rs 12,500 in total for them too.
The tax filing process has also been simplified by introducing a one pager return for individuals having a taxable income of upto Rs 5 Lakh.
However, the rich taxpayers falling in the slab of Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 cr will have to pay an additional surcharge of 10%, while those whose income exceeds Rs 1 cr will have to pay a surcharge of 15%.
The budget has also put to an end to the RGESS scheme, under which the first time equity investors could claim for a deduction of upto Rs 25,000 for three years under section 80CCG.
Real Estate The budget has brought reasons to cheer for home buyers.
The unit size calculation under the scheme for profit-linked income tax deduction for promotion of affordable housing has been changed from “built up” to “carpet area”, thereby increasing the size of the unit by around 30%.
For calculation of Long Term Capital Gains for immovable property, the holding period has been reduced to 2 years from 3 years.
Further, for those whose land is being pooled in for the creation of Andhra Pradesh’s state capital, they will be exempt from Capital Gains for holding such land as on 2 June 2014.
For those living on rent and not claiming a deduction in respect of rent paid under any other Section of the Income Tax Act, you can now claim a deduction of up to Rs 60,000, up from the previous Rs 24,000 under Section 80GG.
The base year for indexation has been shifted from 1981 to 2001 now. So, for those holding property since ages, it is a good news. Since the cost of acquisition will be inflated while calculating Long Term Capital Gains.
Traveling: The budget was travel friendly.
There wasn’t any announcement on increase in the railway fares. And the icing on the cake is you do not have to pay any service tax for railway tickets booked through the irctc website.
You will get clean coaches as an sms based ‘Clean My Coach’ service has also been started.
A new facility ‘Coach Mitra’ has also been announced which will provide a single window interface to register all coach related complaints and requirements.
Students
An e-learning platform called SWAYAM to be launched with 350 online courses, to enable students acquire knowledge virtually taught by the best faculty. And the best part is it comes for free. It is an effort towards providing the best education to all, including the most vulnerable.
Two new AIIMS for medical Students to be set up, one in Gujarat and another in Jharkhand.
Others: In addition to the above,
The banks have targeted additional 10 lakh new POS terminals by March 2017 and encouraged to introduce 20 lakh Aadhar based POS by Sep 2017. So, if you do not have a debit card or credit card or other modes of cashless banking, Aadhar based Sale Terminals will come to your rescue.
For senior citizens, Aadhar based smart cards, containing their health details will be introduced. This is a vital step taken to provide affordable healthcare and a good quality life to senior citizens.