Budget Summary 2012

[Vivek Harsh]

Income Tax

• Tax collection up 15% 
  
  Income Tax proposals: 
• Personal Income Tax slabs for individuals relaxed 
• Exemption limit enhanced from Rs 1.8 lakh to Rs 2 lakh 
• Upper limit of 20% tax raised from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 10 lakh
  
  New Slabs as follows: 
• Upto Rs 2 lakh - Nil 
• Rs 2-5 lakh - 10% 
• Rs 5–10 lakh – 20% 
• Above Rs 10 lakh – 30%
• Interest from savings account up to Rs 10,000 to be exempt from tax
• In addition to medical insurance, an additional Rs 5000 to be exempted for preventive health check-ups
• Senior Citizens exempted from filing advance tax 
• Compulsory reporting of assets sold abroad
  
  Corporate Tax
• Corporate Tax structure left unchanged 
• Withholding tax on certain overseas borrowings reduced to 5% from 20% 
• Securities Transaction Tax cut by 20% for stock market orders
  
  Service Tax
• Service Tax rate up from 10% to 12%
• Higher Service Tax to add Rs 186.6 bn in revenue
• Duty-free baggage allowance for Indians increased to Rs 35,000
• Duty-free baggage allowance for children increased to Rs 15,000
  
  Proposal to tax all services except negative list
  
  Exempted services include:
• Government services
• Pre-school, school education, recognised education at higher levels and approved vocational education
• Renting of residential dwellings, entertainment and amusement services to be exempt
• Public transportation to be exempt from service tax
• Agricultural activities and animal husbandry to be exempt from service tax
• Health care
• Charities, religious persons
• Sportspersons
• Performing artists in folk and classical arts
• Individual advocates providing services to non-business entities
• Independent journalists
• Services related with animal care and car parking
• Services of business facilitators and correspondents to banks and insurance companies
• Construction services relating to specified infrastructure, canals, irrigation works, post-harvest infrastructure, residential dwelling, and low-cost mass housing up to an area of 60 sq. mtr.
• Exemption for the monthly charges payable by a member to a housing society up from Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000
• Industry related with cinematographic films
• To set up a Study Team to examine the possibility of a common tax code for service tax and central excise
• New scheme to simplify refunds
  
  Indirect Taxes
  
  Other Indirect Taxes
• Standard Excise duty raised from 10% to 12 %
• Merit Excise duty raised from 5% to 6 %
• Lower merit rate raised from 1% to 2 %
• Lower merit rate for coal, fertilisers, mobile phones and precious metal jewellery retained at 1%
• Excise duty on large cars up from 22% to 24%
• Customs duty cut to 2.5% on sugarcane planter, root or tuber crop harvesting machine and rotary tiller and weeder
• Customs duty cut to 5% on specified coffee plantation and processing machinery
• To extend project import benefit to green house and protected cultivation for horticulture and floriculture 
• Customs duty cut to 5 % on some water soluble fertilisers and liquid fertilisers
• Customs duty cut to 2.5 % on urea
• To extend concessional import duty for Mechanised Handling Systems and Pallet Racking Systems in mandis or warehouses for horticultural produce
• Imports of equipment for initial setting up or expansion of fertiliser projects fully exempt for three years 
• Steam coal fully exempt, concessional CVD of 1% for two years
• Natural Gas and Liquified Natural Gas exempt 
• Uranium concentrate, Sintered Uranium Dioxide in natural and pellet form exempt 
• Customs Duty on Mining machinery cut to 2.5%
• Customs Duty on Railways safety equipment cut to 7.5%
• Import Duty on road, tunnel boring equipment fully exempt
• Parts of aircraft, testing equipment and tyres exempt 
• Customs Duty on coating material for manufacture of electrical steel cut to 5 %
• Nickel ore and concentrate and nickel oxide/ hydroxide fully exempt 
• Customs Duty on non-alloy, flat-rolled up at 7.5% 
• Automatic shuttle-less looms fully exempt
• Automatic silk reeling and processing machinery fully exempt
• Second-hand textile machinery to attract basic duty of 7.5 %
• Duty on wool waste and wool tops cut to 5% 
• Duty on Titanium dioxide cut to 7.5% 
• Aramid yarn and fabric used for the manufacture of bullet proof helmets fully exempt
• Duty on branded ready-made garments with up at 12 %
• Waste Paper fully exempt
• LCD and LED TV panels fully exempt
• Memory card for mobile phones fully exempt
• Duty on Adult diapers cut to 5%
• Duty on bicycles increased to 30%
• Duty on bicycle parts increased to 20% 
• Excise Duty on hand-made matches cut to 6%
• Six specified life-saving drugs/ vaccines for HIV-AIDS, renal cancer etc fully exempt 
• Customs Duty on Soya protein concentrate and isolated soya protein cut to 15% and 10% respectively 
• Iodised salt to have concessional basic customs duty of 2.5%
• Customs Duty on Probiotics cut to 5%
• Solar energy equipment to be fully exempt 
• Excise duty on LED lamps cut to 6 %
• Hybrid vehicle batteries to be fully exempt
• Customs duty on gold bars, gold coins increased to 4%
• Customs duty on non-standard gold increased to 10% 
• Customs duty on platinum increased to 4%
• Basic duty on gold ore, concentrate and dore bars increased to 2%
• Excise duty on refined gold increased to 3 %
• Polished, coloured gem stones to attract 2% duty 
• Excise duty on cigarettes to attract ad valorem component of 10% on existing rates
• Excise duty on hand-rolled bidis increased to 10 per thousand
• Excise duty on machine-rolled bidis increased to `21 per thousand
• Duty increased on pan masala, gutkha, chewing tobacco, unmanufactured tobacco and zarda scented tobacco in pouches 
• Cess on Crude petroleum oil increased to `4,500 per metric tonne
• Customs Duty on large cars/ MUVs/ SUVs with value exceeding USD 40,000 enhanced from 60 per cent to 75 per cent ad valorem
• Packaged cement to have unified rate of 12 % + `120 PMT for non-mini cement plants and 6 % + `120 PMT for mini-cement plants 
• Non-branded jewellery to attract excise duty of 1% 
• Branded silver jewellery fully exempt
• Building of commercial vehicle bodies to attract an ad valorem rate of 3%

 

Regards

Vivek Harsh

9899627168