On 1st February 2020 nirmla sitaraman said in her speech the rate of income tax will be lower than 2019-20 and specified new income tax rate.
The new and old tax rate in 2020- 21 are as follows.
These tax rate will be applicable in future tax payment date.
Income tax
Direct Tax
Direct Tax Proposals - To stimulate growth, simplify tax structure, bring ease of compliance, and reduce litigations.
• Personal Income Tax:
o Significant relief to middle class taxpayers.
o New and simplified personal income tax regime proposed:
Taxable Income Slab (Rs.) Existing tax rates New tax rates
0-2.5 Lakh Exempt Exempt
2.5-5 Lakh 5% 5%
5-7.5 Lakh 20% 10%
7.5-10 Lakh 20% 15%
10-12.5 Lakh 30% 20%
12.5-15 Lakh 30% 25%
Above 15 Lakh 30% 30%
o Around 70 of the existing exemptions and deductions (more than 100) to be removed in the new simplified regime.
o Remaining exemptions and deductions to be reviewed and rationalised in coming years.
o New tax regime to be optional - an individual may continue to pay tax as per the old regime and avail deductions and exemptions.
o Measures to pre-fill the income tax return initiated so that an individual who opts for the new regime gets pre-filled income tax returns and would need no assistance from an expert to pay income tax.
o New regime to entail estimated revenue forgone of Rs. 40,000 crore per year.
• Corporate Tax:
o Tax rate of 15% extended to new electricity generation companies.
o Indian corporate tax rates now amongst the lowest in the world.
• Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT):
o DDT removed making India a more attractive investment destination.
o Deduction to be allowed for dividend received by holding company from its subsidiary.
o Rs. 25,000 crore estimated annual revenue forgone.
• Start-ups:
o Start-ups with turnover up to Rs. 100 crore to enjoy 100% deduction for 3 consecutive assessment years out of 10 years.
o Tax payment on ESOPs deferred.
• MSMEs to boost less-cash economy:
o Turnover threshold for audit increased to Rs. 5 crore from Rs. 1 crore for businesses carrying out less than 5% business transactions in cash.
• Cooperatives:
o Parity brought between cooperatives and corporate sector.
o Option to cooperative societies to be taxed at 22% + 10% surcharge and 4% cess with no exemption/deductions.
o Cooperative societies exempted from Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT) just like Companies are exempted from the Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT).
• Tax concession for foreign investments:
o 100% tax exemption to the interest, dividend and capital gains income on investment made in infrastructure and priority sectors before 31st March, 2024 with a minimum lock-in period of 3 years by the Sovereign Wealth Fund of foreign governments.
• Affordable housing:
o Additional deduction up to Rs. 1.5 lakhs for interest paid on loans taken for an affordable house extended till 31st March, 2021.
o Date of approval of affordable housing projects for availing tax holiday on profits earned by developers extended till 31st March, 2021.
Tax Facilitation Measures
• Instant PAN to be allotted online through Aadhaar.
• ‘Vivad Se Vishwas’ scheme, with a deadline of 30th June, 2020, to reduce litigations in direct taxes:
o Waiver of interest and penalty - only disputed taxes to be paid for payments till 31st March, 2020.
o Additional amount to be paid if availed after 31st March, 2020.
o Benefits to taxpayers in whose cases appeals are pending at any level.
• Faceless appeals to be enabled by amending the Income Tax Act.
• For charity institutions:
o Pre-filling in return through information of donations furnished by the done.
o Process of registration to be made completely electronic.
o Unique registration number (URN) to be issued to all new and existing charity institutions.
o Provisional registration to be allowed for new charity institutions for three years.
o CBDT to adopt a Taxpayers’ Charter.
• Losses of merged banks:
o Amendments proposed to the Income-tax Act to ensure that entities benefit from unabsorbed losses and depreciation of the amalgamating entities.
GST
*Indirect Tax*
• GST:
o Cash reward system envisaged to incentivise customers to seek invoice.
o Simplified return with features like SMS based filing for nil return and improved input tax credit flow to be implemented from 1st April, 2020 as a pilot run.
o Dynamic QR-code capturing GST parameters proposed for consumer invoices.
o Electronic invoice to capture critical information in a centralized system to be implemented in a phased manner.
o Aadhaar based verification of taxpayers being introduced to weed out dummy or non-existent units.
o GST rate structure being deliberated to address inverted duty structure.
• Customs Duties:
o Customs duty raised on footwear to 35% from 25% and on furniture goods to 25% from 20%.
o Basic customs duty on imports of news print and light-weight coated paper reduced from 10% to 5%.
o Customs duty rates revised on electric vehicles and parts of mobiles.
o 5% health cess to be imposed on the imports of medical devices, except those exempt from BCD.
o Lower customs duty on certain inputs and raw materials like fuse, chemicals, and plastics.
o Higher customs duty on certain goods like auto-parts, chemicals, etc. which are also being made domestically.
• Trade Policy Measures
o Customs Act being amended to enable proper checks of imports under FTAs.
o Rules of Origin requirements to be reviewed for certain sensitive items.
o Provisions relating to safeguard duties to be strengthened to enable regulating such surge in imports in a systematic way.
o Provisions for checking dumping of goods and imports of subsidized goods being strengthened.
o Suggestions for reviews of exemptions from customs duty to be crowd-sourced.
• Excise duty proposed to be raised on Cigarettes and other tobacco products, no change made in the duty rates of bidis.
• Anti-dumping duty on PTA abolished to benefit the textile sector.
