The Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2024-25 in Parliament today.

The highlights of the budget are as follows:

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·         Income tax slabs revised, standard deduction raised from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000 under the new tax regime in Budget 2024

·         Deduction on family pension for pensioners increased from 15,000 to 25,000

·         hiked the long-term capital gains tax (LTCG) on all financial and non-financial to 12.5 percent from 10 percent, while short-term capital gains tax (STCG) on some assets would be 20 percent.

·         The exemption limit for long-term capital gains tax has been increased to Rs 1.25 lakh from Rs 1 lakh

·         Government will reimburse Rs 3,000 per month to companies to cover their EPFO contributions for a period of 2 years for every extra hiring.

·         Financial Support for Higher Education loans up to 10 Lakh to help youth who have not been eligible for benefits under Government Schemes and Policies.

·         Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act :

Special financial support through multilateral development agencies of `15,000 crore in the current financial year.

Industrial node at Kopparthy along Vishakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor and at Orvakal along Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor.

·         Total allocation of more than 3 lakh crore for schemes benefitting women and girls.

·         The limit of Mudra loans under ‘Tarun’ category to be enhanced to `20 lakh from `10 lakh for those who have successfully repaid previous loans.

·         Changes in Custom Duty :

o    Fully exempt 3 more cancer medicines from custom duties

o    Reduce BCD to 15% on Mobile phone, Mobile PCBA and charger

o    Reduce custom duty on gold and silver to 6% and platinum to 6.4%

o    Reduce BCD on shrimp and fish feed to 5%

o    Exempted more capital goods for manufacturing of solar cells & panels

o    Fully exempt custom duties on 25 critical minerals

·         Abolish ANGEL tax for all classes of investors.

·         Corporate tax rate on foreign companies reduced from 40% to 35%