Major Highlights of Union Budget 2015

Following are the highlights of the Union Budget 2015-16 presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament on Saturday:

No change in personal Income Tax Health Insurance Premium deduction hiked from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000; for senior citizens to Rs 30,000 Transport allowance exemption hiked to Rs 1,600, from Rs 800 per month Additional 2% surcharge on people earning over Rs 1 cr; to fetch Rs 9,000 cr Wealth tax abolished Direct Taxes Code (DTC) dropped Rs 50,000 deduction for contribution to New Pension Scheme To lower Corporate Tax to 25% over next four years GAAR implementation deferred by 2 years to April 2017 Service Tax rate hiked to 14%, from 12.36% Tax free bonds for roads, railways, irrigation projects 2015-16 growth between 8-8.5%, double digit growth feasible Retail inflation close to 5% by March, room for monetary policy easing To achieve fiscal deficit of 3% of GDP by 2017-18 Fiscal Deficit target 3.9% in 2015-16, 3.5% in 2016-17 Revenue Deficit to be 2.8% in 2015-16 Current Account Deficit for 2014-15 to be below 1.3% of GDP To introduce comprehensive law to deal with black money Benami property transaction bill to tackle black money transaction in real estate soon 100% deduction for contribution to Swachh Bharat, Clean Ganga projects GST to be put in place by April 1, 2016 Internationally competitive direct tax regime to be put in place to incentivise saving Incentivise use of credit, debit cards; disincentivise cash transaction to curb black money 7 pc surcharge on firm earning Rs 1 crore to Rs 10 cr Disinvestment target pegged at Rs 69,500 cr Net borrowings pegged at Rs 4.56 lakh cr AIIMS to be set up in J&K, Punjab, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh Indian Gold Coin with Ashok Chakra, Gold Bond, gold monetisation scheme proposed to check gold import Forward Markets Commission to be merged with SEBI PPP model in infrastructure to be revised and revitalised MGNREGA allocation hiked by Rs 5,000 cr Nirbhaya Fund allocation hiked by Rs 1,000 crore 5 Ultra Mega power projects to be set up at Rs 1 lakh cr To create world class IT hub; Rs 150 cr States to be equal partners in economic growth To bring a new bankruptcy code in 2015-16 Committed to subsidy rationalisation by cutting leakages National Skill Mission to be launched, to develop employability of youth Rural infra development fund to have Rs 25,000 cr corpus Visa on arrival scheme to be expanded to 150 countries PSU ports to be encouraged to become companies Non Plan expenditure at Rs 13.12 lakh cr, Plan expenditure at Rs 4.65 lakh cr Gross tax mop up at Rs 14.49 lakh cr Direct tax proposals will lead to a loss of Rs 8,315 cr; indirect tax proposal gain will be over Rs 23,000 cr Tax payers to get income tax benefit of Rs 4.44 lakh To introduce 2 pc Swachh Bharat cess on Service Tax Customs duty on OLED TV abolished Excise duty on leather shoes costing Rs 1,000 lowered to 6 pc from 12 pc New tax proposals to bring revenue gain of Rs 15,068 cr 50 lakh toilet built under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, 6 crore  toilet targeted

For all the Latest Business News, Budget 2020 News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.