Modi Government’s 10th Budget is expected to be iconic for more reasons than one. The expectations are manifold. The “आम आदमी” per usual wants tax exemptions, the industry wants growth enabling schemes and investments, the economists want an under control fiscal deficit, and the Finance Minister probably wants an easier day at the next GST council.
The Budget 2022 is likely to circle around some central themes:
- Large scale spending to enable job creation. Stepping up the infrastructure spend has been a key focus for several years now, but India still lags behind the likes of China but a long mile.
- Offset the inflation damage to common man with tax sops. It’s been few budgets since the salaried assessee got handed any tax real tax reduction. The unprecedented GST collections mean, that some of the Government can make do with a slightly lower Tax on the common man.
- Expenditure on rural and agricultural sector. While the government had to withdraw the agriculture reforms, some of these initiatives may find their way back through the Budget.
- Enablement of innovation centric start-up’s with a clear policy direction on cryptocurrency, online gaming, virtual businesses, carbon credits, electric vehicles
- Simplification of the tax structures and reduction in compliance burden. Industry seeks reduction in litigation and stability in GST regime with clear defined pathways for future.
With that understanding, we bring to you the key highlights of the budget announcements and the proposed finance bill amendments.
Finance Bill 2022 – The Digital Budget
Contibutors: Shipra Walia, Bhavya Walia, Damanpreet Singh, Pooja Verma, Renu Bhatt, Shubham Verma, Aditya Singh, Ashish Pal