Here’s Everything About the Union Budget 2023-24: What’s Costlier & What’s Cheaper?

Highlights of the Union Budget FY24 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for FY24 (Fiscal Year) in the Parliament on Wednesday. The FY (financial year) starts on April 1, 2023. The budget aims to bring the nation back on track post-pandemic and provide a stable & inclusive growth path. This year the focus of the budget is on the 7 important areas that our finance minister named “Saptrishis”, which guides us through Amrit Kaal. 

The budget aims to bring the nation back on track post-pandemic and provide a stable & inclusive growth path

The 7 key areas on which the budget for 2023-24 focuses are an investment in infrastructure, inclusive growth, futuristic fintech, reaching the last mile, improving India’s Industrialization, focus on artificial intelligence, and digital economy.

Finance Minister also mentioned that, for the 3rd year in a row, capital investment rose by 33% to 10 lakh crore, which comes to 3.3% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product). In another populist move, the allocation for PM Awas Yojana was boosted by 66% to more than 79,000 crores, while the agricultural credit objective was raised to 20 lakh crore. 

The PMKVY 4.0 (Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana) will be introduced to build skills in youngsters; 30 skill India international centres will be built. PM-PRANAM will be introduced to encourage states to adopt alternative fertilisers. Moreover, the government has pledged to build 50 new heliports and airports.

The new tax system exempts those with yearly incomes up to Rs 7 lakh from paying taxes

In this year’s budget, the new income tax regime is a big bonanza for taxpayers. According to the announcement, five income tax slabs will be there in budget 2023-24, from six income tax slabs currently. The new tax system exempts those with yearly incomes up to Rs 7 lakh from paying taxes, but it leaves the old system in place for those who continue to benefit from tax deductions and exemptions for investments and spending. The tax slabs in the new tax regime are as follows:

• Rs. 0 to 3 lakh – 0% or nil tax rate
• Rs. 3 to 6 lakh –  5% tax rate
• Rs. 6 to 9 lakh –  10% tax rate
• Rs. 9 to 12 lakh – 15% tax rate
• Rs. 12 to 15 lakh – 20% tax rate
• Above Rs.15 lakh – 30% tax rate

Highlights of the budget FY24:

Here’s the list of the items that are set to get Costlier:

Tax on cigarettes increased by 16 per cent

The basic customs duty gets hiked on articles made from gold bars and the custom duty on kitchen electricity chimneys has been hiked to 15 per cent from 7 per cent. Tax on cigarettes increased by 16 per cent and the basic customs duty on importing compound rubber hiked from 10 per cent to 25 per cent.

Here’s the list of the items that are set to get Cheaper:

Basic customs duty on import of certain parts of mobile manufacturing will be reduced

Customs duty on parts of the TV panels was reduced to 2.5 per cent. Basic customs duty on seeds used in making lab-grown diamonds will be decreased and shrimp feed to promote exports and import of certain parts of mobile manufacturing.