Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister of India, on the 23rd of August, announced a ‘Mini Budget’ which would be implemented from the 1st of October.
Ms. Sitharaman organised a press conference and announced several changes in the Indian Budget which the Government of India ( GoI) missed in the Maiden Budget.
The Finance Minister of India announced the Budget of India for the fiscal year 2019-2020 on the 5th of August.
During the press conference, Nirmala Sitharaman announced enhanced surcharge on capital gains and reduced surcharge on Foreign investors which will help businessmen and traders.
The other key announcements were related to angel tax, bank recapitalisation and income tax notices. Speaking about the angel tax, the GoI said there would be no angel tax on startups and their investors if the company is registered with the Department of Promotion of Industry or Internal Trade (DPIIT.)
On the other hand, all the income tax notices would be sent to the concerned person in a digitalised way and the notice will be disposed after 3 months of the issued date.
Ms. Sitharaman said, “No taxpayer will have anything to do with any notice three months after the date of the issue.”
The mini budget announcement is said to be a step to enhance the economic situation of India and also boost businessman and traders of India to make business easier in India.
The Finance Minister also approved additional liquidity up to Rs. 30,000 crores to enhance Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) which made buying of houses and vehicles easy for Indians.
Besides, Sitharaman said, banks will reduce the repo rate , which will reduce the EMIs on various loans like home loans, personal loans and vehicle loans.
Ms. Sitharaman said, “The RBI has discussed and directed banks to release the benefits of (the) changes in (the) repo rates to the customers. The aim is to reduce the interest rate on housing and auto rates.”
Nandita Parker, a Managing Partner at Karma Capital Management said, “Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has just made it easier to carry on doing business.”
Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcements were appreciated by many economic analysts and professionals. According to economists, Ms. Sitharaman focussed on many things which play an important role in the economic situation of India.
Arvind Virmani, the former Chief Economic Advisor said, “The message we were giving to the government was that you have to listen to the people on the ground. The press conference is ample proof that the government has listened to the suggestions well.”
Concluding the press conference, Nirmala Sitharaman announced, the GoI will again come up with a new set of the budget announcements.
However, an official announcement regarding the new set of the budget announcement is yet to be made.
Stay tuned for further updates.
