Budget Highlights - 2013-2014

ü  Iodised salt, match-boxes, soya products to become cheaper

ü  Increase customs duty on imported cars to 75%

ü  Raises custom duty on import on large SUVS

ü  Increase excise duty on some Cigarettes

ü  Customs duty on gold bar coins raised to 4%

ü  Customs duty on platinum raised

ü  Customs duty on gold raised

ü  Some infra services exempted from service tax

ü  Tax exemption of up to Rs 5,000 for health insurance towards annual preventive check up

ü  Basic customs duty on bicycles raised to 30%

ü  Exempts LCD LED panels from customs duty

ü  Iron ore machinery part duty cut to 2.5%

ü  Airline parts exempted from basic custom duty

ü  Rs 15,890 crore for recapitalisation of PSU banks

ü  Coal LNG exempt from customs duty

ü  Exemption of customs duty of 5% on equipment for fertilizer plants

ü  To keep peak custom rate unchanged

ü  To raise duty on large cars 27 pc duty

ü  Excise duty hiked to 12 pc from 10 pc

ü  Service tax raised to 12 pc from 10 pc

ü  FY13 market borrowing at Rs 4.79 lakh cr.

ü  Introduction of compulsory reporting requirement of assets held abroad

ü  To exempt some movie services from service tax

ü  Govt services, education, entertainment, public transport exempted from service tax

ü  School education exempted from service tax

ü  FM says information on black money stashed abroad has started flowing in and prosecution to be executed in some cases

ü  Removes restriction on venture capital investment

ü  No change in corporate tax

ü  Income above 10 lakh will have 30% income tax

ü  Income from 5 to 10 lakh will have 20% income tax

ü  Income Tax at 10 percent for Rs 2-5 lakh

ü  Tax exemption limit up to 2 lakh

ü  Introduce new law for micro finance institutions

ü  FY12 fiscal deficit at 5.9% and FY13 fiscal deficit at 5.1%

ü  7 medical colleges to be upgraded to All India Institutes

ü  FY13 non plan expenditure at 9.7 lakh crores

ü  Non-tax revenue receipts estimated at Rs 1.64 lakh crores

ü  Additional 3 per cent interest subvention to farmers for promptly repaying their due

ü  Rs 25,555 cr for Right to Education in FY13

ü  Rs 193107cr in FY13 for defense

ü  Rs 1000 crores for National Skill Development Fund in FY13

ü  Rs 15,850 crore to be allocated to Integrated Child Development Scheme in 2012-13

ü  Pranab says the Nandan Nilekani panel recommendation on direct transfer of subsidy accepted

ü  NRHM allocation increased to Rs 20,820 cr.

ü  FM announces new equity savings scheme

ü  Rs 14000 crore for rural drinking and sanitation in FY 13

ü  Rs 242 crore project with World Bank assistance to improve dairy production.

ü  Credit guarantee fund for education loans

ü  National mission for food processing

ü  6,000 schools proposed to be set up in 12th year plan

ü  1 percent loan subsidy on home loans up to Rs 15 lakh

ü  New PDS for food security

ü  Allocate Rs 14232 cr to UID project

ü  Set up state-run irrigation facility

ü  Remove infrastructure bottleneck: FM

ü  Budget commits to multi-brand FDI

ü  Tax free-infra bond for Rs 60,000

ü  Allow ECB funding to finance working capital needs of airlines for 1 year

ü  Rs 30,000 crore to be raised through disinvestment

ü  To make 8,800 km of highways in FY13; outlay raised

ü  Irrigation, dams eligible for a special fund

ü  Tax exemption on individual share investment below Rs 10 lakhs

ü  Become self sufficient in urea production in next 5 years

ü  Some subsidies inevitable, says Pranab

ü  FM promises tax incentive for new investors

ü  Considering FDI in airlines

ü  Infrastructure debt fund launched

ü  Sensex trading 180 points higher

ü  Food subsidy will be fully provided for in the Budget

ü  Consortium for direct lending approved

ü  Implement direct tax code the earliest

ü  Focus on removing infrastructure bottlenecks

ü  Direct cash subsity to LPG, Kerosene

ü  Signs of turnaround in economy in March

ü  Address malnutrition decisively

ü  Bring down subsidy to 1.7 percent of GDP in the next 3 years

ü  Economy to grow at 7.6 percent in 2012/13

ü  Direct subsidy to retailers, farmers

ü  Address the problem of black money; FM expects inflation will come down; Have to accelerate pace of reforms

ü  Need to improve supply side in economy says FM

ü  Performance this year was disappointing but as compared to peers India was better says FM

ü  Weak industrial growth has held us back says Pranab

ü  Pranab Starts the budget presentation. He syas for Indian economy it has been a year of recovery interrupted.

ü  DMK MPs not attending Parliament for the Budget

ü  Can Pranab Mukherjee take the initiative to halt the deteriorating economic growth? Can he make this a significant budget?

ü  Rupee strengthens before budget

ü  Oil & Gas: expect status quo to be maintained on customs and excise duties in the oil & gas sector in the light of the sustained high losses on sales of subsidized petroleum products at current retail selling price.

ü  Nominal GDP growth of 14 to 14.5 percent is likely to be used for the budget arithmetic

ü  In the fertilizer and chemical sector, there is an expectation that the customs duty on various inputs like LNG, Naphtha, Alcohol, Propylene etc will be removed from current rate of 5 percent.

ü  In the automobile sector, the expectation is that there will be an increase in excise duty across segments and also there is possibility of additional tax on diesel vehicles.

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Lack of Funds ...??

As they say, It starts with a dream.  Add confidence, and it becomes a belief.  Add commitment, and it becomes a goal in sight.  Add action, and it becomes a part of your life.  Add determination and time, and your dream comes true.

When you least expect it, something great will come along. Something better than you ever planned for. Mother Nature opens millions of flowers every day without forcing the buds. Let this be a reminder not to force anything, but to simply give beautiful things enough love and an opportunity to grow naturally.

Today, choose differently. Pick one part of your life that you are unhappy with and look at it from a different point of view. See the rain as nourishment for future growth. Consider being alone for a little while to create the solitude you need to hear your inner voice. Think of your lack of funds as an opportunity to experience the simple things in life. Right now, you can choose to allow the light to shine in your life. It is a choice. Why not allow it?

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Earning Less than 8 Lakh in Financial Year 2012-2013? Your Tax will Go Up

The taxpayers have one more reason to get frustrated with the recent budget. The Finance Minister not only kept the tax-saving limit under Section 80C unaltered, but the deduction under Section 80CCF for infrastructure bonds has been removed. This will cut down the total tax savings from 1.2 lakh to 1 lakh which will thrust up the payable tax for individuals.

The deduction was increased two years ago and it has to be extended every year through an amendment. Tax experts had dreaded the worst when the finance minister did not mention it in his budget speech this year. Finance Ministry sources now authenticate that the 20, 000 deductions has been allowed to tumble this year.

It has come clean by now that the change will not burn those with an income of less than 5-6 lakh a year. The taxpayers in this section generally did not invest in infrastructure bonds in a huge way as the tax benefit is lesser for this slab. In a lot of cases, these taxpayers failed to exhaust even their 1 lakh deduction limit under Section 80C.

Though for investors with an income of up to 8 lakh, the scrapping of Section 80CCF means that they will have to pay up to 2,060 more tax next year. It will be more difficult for female taxpayers, but the cruelest gust is held back for senior citizens and very senior citizens. These taxpayers will end up paying almost 4, 120 more as tax. Add the burn of the hike in service tax and you can see a bigger serving of your income going as taxes next year.

Strangely, the elimination of the deduction overlaps with the government's plan to boost the funds to be lifted up by infrastructure lenders in 2012-13. This limit has been doubled to 60, 000 crore. This is the cause, the experts thinks that the deduction should have been allowed to persist. Moreover, it comes at a time when the government wants to raise money for the cash-hungry infrastructure sector. "It is a blow to individual investors as it will actually push up their tax burden. The deduction should be restored immediately,” said DS Rawat, Secretary-General, Assocham.

From Deduction to Exemption

Spending too much time worrying about the scrapped tax deduction is not worth it.  On the contrary, we should think about the exemption you can gain through the tax-free infrastructure bonds. Contrasting to the tax-saving bonds under Section 80CCF, these bonds will not cut your tax outgo. Nevertheless, the interest they earn will be tax-free. The interest earned on Section 80CCF bonds is fully taxable, which decrease the post-tax yield for investors. Besides, the tax has to be paid every year, not on the maturity of the bond.

Alternatively, the income from tax-free infrastructure bonds is completely exempted. What's more, unlike the 20, 000 ceiling in the tax-saving bonds, there is no limit to the amount that a retail investor can park in these bonds. Kamal Rampuria, Senior Vice-President, AUM Capital Market  said, "While the tax-saving bonds under Section 80CCF gave better returns, even tax-free infrastructure bonds are a good option for investors in the highest income bracket.”

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