Budget 2014-15 — A ‘balanced’ budget
The Budget 2014-15 – presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday – marked the maiden Budget of the newly-formed NDA government. Experts are of the opinion that the Budget is quite a ‘balanced’ one.
Pushing for an all-encompassing agenda, the Budget predominantly underscores the new government’s comprehensive focus on macro-economic stabilisation, reduced inflation, sustained level of external sector balance, and fiscal forethought.
While the Budget has not brought any change in tax rates, it has nonetheless increased the threshold for taxation of individuals from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh. For senior citizens, this threshold has been raised from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh. Moreover, in an attempt to encourage savings, the deductions on account of certain payments have been increased to Rs. 1.5 lakh.
On the infrastructure and construction front, the Finance Minister has tried to attract large-scale investment, by providing a favourable tax regime for the Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs).
In the new Budget, the deduction for new plant and machinery has also been expanded to companies which have over Rs 25-crore investment in any one year. Furthermore, for power generation, distribution, and transmission companies which commence operations on or before March 31 2017, tax holiday benefits have been extended.
Source- Hindustan Times
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