Ministry of Finance

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE INTERIM UNION BUDGET 2024-25

Posted On: 01 FEB 2024 

With the ‘mantra’ of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, and Sabka Vishwas’ and the whole of nation approach of “Sabka Prayas”, the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Interim Union Budget 2024-25 in Parliament, today. The key highlights of the Budget are as follows:

Part A

Social Justice

• Prime Minister to focus on upliftment of four major castes, that is, ‘Garib’ (Poor), ‘Mahilayen’ (Women), ‘Yuva’ (Youth) and  ‘Annadata’(Farmer).

‘Garib Kalyan, Desh ka Kalyan’

• Government assisted 25 crore people out of multi-dimensional poverty in last 10 years.
• DBT of Rs. 34 lakh crore using PM-Jan Dhan accounts led to savings of Rs. 2.7 lakh crore for the Government.
• PM-SVANidhi provided credit assistance to 78 lakh street vendors. 2.3 lakh have received credit for the third time.
• PM-JANMAN Yojana to aid the development of particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG).
• PM-Vishwakarma Yojana provides end-to-end support to artisans and crafts people engaged in 18 trades.

Welfare of ‘Annadata’

• PM-KISAN SAMMAN Yojana provided financial assistance to 11.8 crore farmers. 
• Under PM Fasal BimaYojana, crop insurance is given to 4 crore farmers
• Electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) integrated 1361 mandis, providing services to 1.8 crore farmers with trading volume of Rs. 3 lakh crore.

Momentum for Nari Shakti

• 30 crore Mudra Yojana loans given to women entrepreneurs.
• Female enrolment in higher education gone up by 28%.
• In STEM courses, girls and women constitute 43% of enrolment, one of the highest in the world.
• Over 70% houses under PM Awas Yojana given to women from rural areas.

PM Awas Yojana (Grameen)

• Despite COVID challenges, the target of three crore houses under PM Awas Yojana (Grameen) will be achieved soon.
• Two crore more houses to be taken up in the next five years.

Rooftop solarization and muft bijli

• 1 crore households to obtain 300 units free electricity every month through rooftop solarization.
• Each household is expected to save Rs.15000 to Rs.18000 annually.

Ayushman Bharat

• Healthcare cover under Ayushman Bharat scheme to be extended to all ASHA workers, Anganwadi Workers and Helpers.

Agriculture and food processing

• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana has benefitted 38 lakh farmers and generated 10 lakh employment.
• Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Yojana has assisted 2.4 lakh SHGs and 60000 individuals with credit linkages.

Research and Innovation for catalyzing growth, employment and development

• A corpus of Rs.1 lakh crore to be established with fifty-year interest free loan to provide long-term financing or refinancing with long tenors and low or nil interest rates.
• A new scheme to be launched for strengthening deep-tech technologies for defence purposes and expediting ‘atmanirbharta’.

Infrastructure

• Capital expenditure outlay for Infrastructure development and employment generation to be increased by 11.1 per cent to Rs.11,11,111 crore, that will be 3.4 per cent of the GDP.

Railways

• 3 major economic railway corridor programmes identified under the PM Gati Shakti to be implemented to improve logistics efficiency and reduce cost
  • Energy, mineral and cement corridors
  • Port connectivity corridors
  • High traffic density corridors
• Forty thousand normal rail bogies to be converted to Vande Bharat standards.

Aviation Sector

• Number of airports in the country doubled to 149.
• Five hundred and seventeen new routes are carrying 1.3 crore passengers.
• Indian carriers have placed orders for over 1000 new aircrafts.

Green Energy

• Coal gasification and liquefaction capacity of 100 MT to be set up by 2030.
• Phased mandatory blending of compressed biogas (CBG) in compressed natural gas (CNG) for transport and piped natural gas (PNG) for domestic purposes to be mandated.

Tourism sector

• States to be encouraged to take up comprehensive development of iconic tourist centres including their branding and marketing at global scale.
• Framework for rating of the tourist centres based on quality of facilities and services to be established.
• Long-term interest free loans to be provided to States for financing such development on matching basis.

Investments

• FDI inflow during 2014-23 of USD 596 billion was twice of the inflow during 2005-14.

Reforms in the States for ‘Viksit Bharat’

• A provision of Rs.75,000 crore rupees as fifty-year interest free loan is proposed to support milestone-linked reforms by the State Governments.

Revised Estimates (RE) 2023-24

• RE of the total receipts other than borrowings is Rs.27.56 lakh crore, of which the tax receipts are Rs.23.24 lakh crore.
• RE of the total expenditure is Rs.44.90 lakh crore.
• Revenue receipts at Rs.30.03 lakh crore are expected to be higher than the Budget Estimate, reflecting strong growth momentum and formalization in the economy.
• RE of the fiscal deficit is 5.8 per cent of GDP for 2023-24.

Budget Estimates 2024-25

• Total receipts other than borrowings and the total expenditure are estimated at Rs.30.80 and Rs.47.66 lakh crore respectively.
• Tax receipts are estimated at Rs.26.02 lakh crore.   
• Scheme of fifty-year interest free loan for capital expenditure to states to be continued this year with total outlay of Rs.1.3 lakh crore.
• Fiscal deficit in 2024-25 is estimated to be 5.1 per cent of GDP
• Gross and net market borrowings through dated securities during 2024-25 are estimated at Rs.14.13 and Rs.11.75 lakh crore respectively.

Part B

Direct taxes

• FM proposes to retain same tax rates for direct taxes
• Direct tax collection tripled, return filers increased to 2.4 times, in the last 10 years
• Government to improve tax payer services
  • Outstanding direct tax demands upto Rs 25000 pertaining to the period upto FY 2009-10 withdrawn
  • Outstanding direct tax demands upto Rs 10000 for financial years 2010-11 to 2014-15 withdrawn
  • This will benefit one crore tax payers
• Tax benefits to Start-Ups, investments made by Sovereign wealth funds or pension funds extended to 31.03.2025
• Tax exemption on certain income of IFSC units extended by a year to 31.03.2025 from 31.03.2024

Indirect taxes

• FM proposes to retain same tax rates for indirect taxes and import duties
• GST unified the highly fragmented indirect tax regime in India
  • Average monthly gross GST collection doubled to Rs 1.66 lakh crore this year
  • GST tax base has doubled
  • State  SGST revenue buoyancy (including compensation released to states) increased to 1.22  in post-GST period(2017-18 to 2022-23) from 0.72 in the pre-GST period (2012-13 to 2015-16)
  • 94% of industry leaders view transition to GST as largely positive
  • GST led to supply chain optimization
  • GST reduced the compliance burden on trade and industry
  • Lower logistics cost and taxes  helped reduce prices of goods and services, benefiting the consumers

Tax rationalization efforts over the years

• No tax liability for income upto Rs 7 lakh, up from Rs 2.2 lakh in  FY 2013-14
• Presumptive taxation threshold for retail businesses increased to Rs 3 crore from Rs 2 crore
• Presumptive taxation threshold for professionals increased to Rs 75 lakh from Rs 50 lakh
• Corporate income tax decreased to 22% from 30% for existing domestic companies
• Corporate income tax rate at 15% for new manufacturing companies

Achievements in tax-payer services

• Average processing time of tax returns has reduced to 10 days from 93 days in 2013-14
• Faceless Assessment and Appeal introduced for greater efficiency
• Updated income tax returns, new form 26AS and prefilled tax returns for simplified return filing
• Reforms in customs leading to reduced Import release time
  • Reduction by 47% to 71 hours at Inland Container Depots
  • Reduction by 28% to 44 hours at  Air Cargo complexes
  • Reduction by 27% to 85 hours at Sea Ports

Economy-then and now

• In 2014 there was a responsibility to mend the economy and put governance systems in order. The need of the hour was to:
  • Attract investments
  • Build support to the much-needed reforms
  • Give hope to the people
•  The government succeeded with a strong belief of ‘nation-first’
• “It is now appropriate to look at where we were till 2014 and where we are now”: FM
  • The Government will lay a White Paper on the table of the house.

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YB/NB/SNC/LP/KSS/RK/PD/CNAN
(Release ID: 2001130) 

 

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue

Central Board of Direct Taxes

New Delhi, 23^rd January, 2024

Press Release

Release of Direct Tax Statistics

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has been releasing key statistics relating to Direct Tax collections and administration in public domain from time to time. In continuation of its efforts to place more and more information in public domain, the CBDT has further released Consolidated Time-Series data as updated upto F.Y. 2022-23. The key highlights of some of these statistics are as under:

(i) Net Direct Tax Collections have increased by 160.52% from Rs. 6,38,596 crore in F.Y. 2013-14 to Rs. 16,63,686 crore in F.Y. 2022-23. 

(ii) Gross Direct Tax Collections of Rs. 19,72,248 crore in F.Y. 2022-23 have registered an increase of over 173.31% compared to Gross Direct Tax Collections of Rs. 7,21,604 crore in F.Y. 2013-14.  

(iii) Direct Tax to GDP ratio has increased from 5.62% in F.Y. 2013-14 to 6.11% in F.Y. 2022-23.

(iv) The Cost of collection has decreased from 0.57% of total collection in the F.Y. 2013-14 to 0.51% of total collection in the F.Y. 2022-23.

(v) The total number of ITRs filed in FY 2022-23 stands at 7.78 crore showing an increase of 104.91% as compared to total number of ITRs of 3.80 crore filed in FY 2013-14.

The availability of the Time-Series data in public domain will be useful for  academicians, research scholars, economists and the public at large in studying long-term trends of various indices of the effectiveness and efficiency of Direct Tax administration in India. This time series data is available at www.incometaxindia.gov.in.

(Surabhi Ahluwalia)

Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax

(Media & Technical Policy) &

Official Spokesperson, CBDT

 

 

Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes

******

New Delhi, 11 th January, 2024

Press Release

Direct Tax Collections for F.Y. 2023-24 up to 10.01.2024

The provisional figures of Direct Tax collections up to 10 th January, 2024 continue to register steady growth. Direct Tax collections up to 10 th January, 2024 show that gross collections are at Rs. 17.18 lakh crore which is 16.77% higher than the gross collections for the corresponding period of last year. Direct Tax collection, net of refunds, stands at Rs. 14.70 lakh crore which is 19.41% higher than the net collections for the corresponding period of last year. This collection is 80.61% of the total Budget Estimates of Direct Taxes for F.Y. 2023-24.

So far as the growth rate for Corporate Income Tax (CIT) and Personal Income Tax (PIT) in terms of gross revenue collections is concerned, the growth rate for CIT is 8.32% while that for PIT is 26.11% (PIT only)/ 26.11% (PIT including STT). After adjustment of refunds, the net growth in CIT collections is 12.37% and that in PIT collections is 27.26% (PIT only)/ 27.22% (PIT including STT).

Refunds amounting to Rs. 2.48 lakh crore have been issued during 1 st April, 2023 to 10 th January, 2024.

(Surabhi Ahluwalia)
Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax
(Media and Technical Policy) &
Official Spokesperson, CBDT

 

Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes

******

New Delhi, 10 th January, 2024

Press Release

Income Tax Department conducts search operations in Mumbai

Income Tax Department initiated search and seizure operations in the case of a group, engaged in the manufacturing of  wires and cables and other electrical items on 22.12.2023. Some of the authorized distributors of the group were also covered in the search. The search action was conducted at more than 50 premises located in Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Nasik, Daman, Halol and Delhi.

During the course of the search operation, a large number of incriminating evidences in the form of documents and digital data have been found & seized. These evidences reveal modus-operandi of tax evasion adopted by the group in connivance with some of the authorised distributors. Preliminary analysis suggests that the flagship company indulged in unaccounted cash sales, cash payments for unaccounted purchases, non-genuine transport and sub-contracting expenses, etc for suppression of its taxable income.

Credible evidences recovered during the search have established that the flagship company has made unaccounted cash sales of around Rs. 1000 crore which are not recorded in the books of accounts. Evidences of unaccounted cash payments of more than Rs. 400 crore made by a distributor, on behalf of the flagship company towards purchases of raw materials, have also been seized. Further, non-genuine expenses in the nature of sub-contracting expenses, purchases and transport expenses, etc. aggregating to about Rs. 100 crore have also been identified in the seized evidences from the premises of the flagship company.

The search action also resulted in determination of unexplained transactions undertaken by the distributor for issuing bills without genuine supply of goods whereas such goods have been sold in open market in cash. Thus, the authorized distributor facilitated certain parties to inflate their purchase accounts, which aggregate to about Rs. 500 crore. This distributor exclusively sells products of the flagship company.

During the course of search operation, unaccounted cash exceeding Rs. 4 crore, has been seized and more than 25 bank lockers have been put on restraint.

Further investigations are in progress.

(Surabhi Ahluwalia)
Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax
(Media & Technical Policy) & 
Official Spokesperson, CBDT

 

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue

Central Board of Direct Taxes

******

New Delhi, 1^st January, 2024

 Press Release

A New Record for CBDT! Over 8.18 crore ITRs filed for A.Y. 2023-2024

The Income-tax Department appreciates taxpayers and tax professionals for making compliances in time, leading to a surge in filing of Income-tax Returns (ITRs), resulting in a new record of 8.18 crore ITRs for the A.Y. 2023-2024 filed upto 31.12.2023 as against 7.51 crore ITRs filed upto 31.12.2022. This is 9% more than the total ITRs filed for A.Y. 2022-23. The total number of audit reports and other forms filed during the period is 1.60 crore, as against 1.43 crore audit reports and forms filed in the corresponding period of preceding year.

It is heartening to note that a large number of taxpayers did their due diligence by comparing data of their financial transactions by viewing their Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS). A substantial portion of the data for all ITRs was prefilled with data pertaining to salary, interest, dividend, personal information, tax payment including TDS related information, brought forward losses, MAT credit, etc to further ease compliance by taxpayers. The facility was used extensively, resulting in smoother and faster filing of ITRs. 

Further, during this F.Y. 2023-2024, a digital e-pay tax payment platform - TIN 2.0 was made fully functional on the e-filing portal, replacing the OLTAS payment system. This enabled user-friendly options for e-payment of taxes such as Internet Banking, NEFT/RTGS, OTC, Debit Card, payment gateway and UPI. TIN 2.0 platform has enabled real time credit of taxes to taxpayers which made ITR filing easier and faster.

To encourage taxpayers to file their ITRs and Forms early, over 103.5 crore outreaches were made through targeted e-mail, SMS and other creative campaigns. Such concerted efforts led to fruitful results with 9% more ITRs being filed for A.Y. 2023-24 till 31.12.2023. The e-filing Helpdesk team handled approximately 27.37 lakh queries from taxpayers during the year upto 31.12.2023, supporting the taxpayers proactively during the peak filing periods. Support from the helpdesk was provided to taxpayers through inbound calls, outbound calls, live chats, WebEx and co-browsing sessions. Helpdesk team also supported resolution of queries received on the X(Twitter) handle of the Department through Online Response Management (ORM), by proactively reaching out to the taxpayers/ stakeholders and assisting them for different issues on near real-time basis. 

The Department expresses gratitude to all taxpayers and tax professionals for the support in compliances in filing of ITRs and Forms. Taxpayers are also requested to verify their unverified ITRs if any, within 30 days of filing the ITR to avoid any consequences.

(Surabhi Ahluwalia)

Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax

(Media & Technical Policy) &

Official Spokesperson, CBDT