Union Budget 2020 LIVE: Major Relief For Taxpayers, Tax Slabs Rejigged
Catch all live updates of Nirmala Sitharaman's second budget with BOOM's Budget Live Blog
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget before the Lok Sabha at 11 am on Saturday. This will be the second budget of the re-elected government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will look to kickstart the economy while attempting a balancing act between growth and fiscal prudence.
The fiscal deficit, from April to November, is already at 115% of the budgeted deficit, which is at 3.3% of GDP. Unemployment is at a 45-year high according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey, pegging the unemployment rate for 2017 - 2018 at 6.1%. India's growth in the second quarter of financial year 2019 - 2020 stood at 4.5%, the lowest in six years, with the Reserve Bank of India cutting India's growth forecasts for the ongoing financial year from 6.1% to just 5%. Institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the State Bank of India (SBI) too have followed suit, having cut India's growth projections in their own forecasts. In December 2019, official data showed inflation at 7.35%, breaching the Reserve Bank Of India's medium-term upper ceiling of retail inflation of 6%. This figure was at a three-year high, being driven primarily by food inflation, which rose at 14.12% in December.
The budget also comes at a time when the government has taken disinvestment decisions to shore up its finance, such as putting 100% of Air India up for sale and giving incentives for investment by cutting corporation tax, up to 10 percentage points for corporations.
Live Updates
- 1 Feb 2020 9:26 AM GMT
Want to know how the taxes presented affects you? Check out BOOM's tax calculator
Want to see how the Union Budget 2020 presented by FM #NirmalaSitharaman impacts your income after taxes? Use our quick online tax calculator to plan your finances after changes in Indian budget. #BudgetSession2020#BudgetWithBOOM#Budget2020#taxhttps://t.co/hKgV6RORVd
— BOOM FactCheck (@boomlive_in) February 1, 2020 - 1 Feb 2020 9:15 AM GMT
Markets have not taken the budget well. Benchmark indices Sensex down 500 points, NIFTY down 200 points.
- 1 Feb 2020 8:59 AM GMT
The longest budget speech summed up in 10 points!
Key takeaways from the Modi government's second Union Budget, announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. @nsitharamanoffc #NirmalaSitharaman #Budget2020 #BudgetWithBOOM https://t.co/tHutXarnsV
— BOOM FactCheck (@boomlive_in) February 1, 2020 - 1 Feb 2020 8:06 AM GMT
Aadhaar-based verification for indirect taxes
- 1 Feb 2020 7:58 AM GMT
New scheme to reduce 4,83,000 direct tax cases pending at various forums. Taxpayer to pay only disputed tax amount, no interest or penalty, until March 31, 2020.
- 1 Feb 2020 7:49 AM GMT
New power generation companies to be extended the new 15% tax.
- 1 Feb 2020 7:45 AM GMT
100% exemption to sovereign wealth fund investments in priority sectors
- 1 Feb 2020 7:43 AM GMT
Dividend Distribution Tax to be abolished, dividends would be taxed on recipients at their applicable rates
- 1 Feb 2020 7:41 AM GMT
70 of 100 exemptions removed in the new income-tax regimes.
- 1 Feb 2020 7:40 AM GMT
₹40,000 crore in revenue foregone in the new regime