Budget 2017-18 Expectations

Hi Friends,

In this post, I'm going to talk about Upcoming 2017-18 budget which going to be presented in Parliament in first quarter of 2017 on 1^st Feb. Expectations from different industries and the public have already started coming in. So I'm presenting you the top expectations from Budget 2017-18 from my end.

So lets move one by one on several points which given as follow:->

• Modification in Income Tax Slabs and Rates:
• Tax exemption slab should increase from Rs 2.5 lakhs to Rs 3 lakhs.
• There may also be a reduction in the tax rates, which currently stands at:
• 10 % for incomes above Rs. 2.5 lakhs
• 20 % for incomes above Rs 5 lakh
• 30 % for incomes above Rs 10 lakh

• And may change to:
• Less than Rs. 4 lakhs -> Nil
• Rs. 4 lakhs to less than Rs. 8 lakhs-> 10% on taxable income exceeding Rs. 4 lakhs
• Rs. 8 lakhs to less than Rs. 12 lakhs-> Rs. 40,000 + 20 % on taxable income over Rs. 8 lakhs
• Rs. 12 lakhs and above-> Rs. 1.2 lakhs + 25% on taxable income over Rs. 12 lakhs

• Cashless Transactions:
• The government has already announced incentives for those making payments through digital mediums like debit/credit cards, mobile wallets, paytm etc.
• Service tax on payments for transactions upto Rs. 2000 through debit/credit cards have been removed, 0.75% discount has been announced for digital payments at petrol stations.
• With a vision to move towards a cashless economy, the government may announce further measures to encourage digital payments.

• Real Estate:
• Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA) and demonetisation caused major damages to this sector.
• Cash crunch made problems for both buyers, sellers, and constructors.
• Relaxation in income tax rate, hike in the HRA deduction limit for salaried people, measures to standardise the construction material costs are expected from the new budget.

• Housing Loan:
  • The increase in the tax deduction for interest paid on housing loan is expected.
  • Some concessions may be offered in the Union Budget 2017-18 to increase the tax benefit on payment of interest beyond the annual Rs 2 lakh, to give a helping hand to both the industry and tax payers.

• Healthcare:
  • With specific focus on improving the livelihood of the rural population, the Union Budget 2016-17 seems to be aimed at putting more money in the hands of the citizens.
  • However, in terms of personal health, keeping in mind the rise in the healthcare costs, the exemption on account of medical reimbursement is restricted to Rs 15,000 per annum, which should be at least, doubled.

• Introduction of GST:
• With the winter session of Parliament being washed out as a result of demonetisation protests, this year’s budget is expected by many to feature the introduction of a much watered down version of the GST.
• This will definitely be cheered by many businesses as it would make the task of estimating and filing their taxes much easier.

• Increase Investment in railway:
  • As a result of the merger of the Rail Budget with the Union Budget, there is all the more reason for the Finance Minister to introduce populist measures that focus on further development of infrastructure.
  • The modernization of railways is long overdue and the recent Kanpur accident is expected to give further impetus to government spending on railways modernization.
  • Additionally, like every year we can expect a few new trains that would be launched.

• Increase Taxes on Tobacco, Alcohol, Luxury, Goods and Imports
  • The prices of tobacco products and alcohol have historically been increased in every budget as these have been a perennial source of revenues.
  • Going forward, we can expect more of the same and the price of imported goods such as high-end electronics, imported automobiles as well as gold is also expected to rise as the government attempts to increase indirect tax revenues subsequent to GST implementation, make imported items less attractive to control its budget deficit and simultaneously promote the Make in India initiative.

• Under 80C Section:
• Currently, the deduction in respect of various investments is upto Rs 1.5 Lakh.
• In a bid to boost savings, a corresponding increase in the limit to Rs 2 lakhs would be attractive.

So this is all what I'm expecting with this Upcoming Budget in 1^st Feb, 2017. I know we all have some or more expectation from this. Let's move and wait till 1^st Feb, 2017.

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--Pradeep Gupta