Union Budget India 2024-25 at a glance

 

Every budget speech attracts attention to which items will become cheaper and which will become more expensive. The prices of essential goods for the common man are sky-high, making it difficult for many to afford basic necessities like lentils, vegetables, and boiled potatoes. A large portion of the general public complains that their income isn't keeping pace with the rising prices. Some experts believe this issue will significantly impact the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Many anticipated that the first budget of the Modi government, reliant on allies, would be somewhat populist. Consequently, the public kept an eye on which items' prices would drop.

The Finance Minister announced significant reductions in duties on cancer drugs and mobile phones, which will bring some relief. Prices of three cancer drugs—Trastuzumab deruxtecan, Osimertinib, and Durvalumab—may decrease.

Additionally, imported gold, silver, leather goods, and seafood will also become cheaper. Gold remains a popular savings option for many people, and this budget reduced import duties on gold and silver to 6% and on platinum to 6.4%. The import duty on copper has been reduced by 4%, leading to lower prices for copper as well.

In total, duties on 25 important metals have been completely removed. The duty on platinum has been reduced by 6.4%, which will also decrease its price.

Conversely, import duties on PVC and plastic products have increased.

Here's a quick look at the items whose prices will fall and those whose prices will rise:

**Items that will become cheaper:**

- Cancer drugs

- Mobile phones

- Solar panels

- Leather products and jewelry (gold, silver, diamonds, platinum)

- Steel and iron goods

- Electronics

- Yachts

- Seafood

- Footwear

**Items that will become more expensive:**

- Telecommunications equipment

- Plastic products and PVC plastic

- Ammonium nitrate, with increased taxes leading to higher prices

The Finance Minister also made a major announcement regarding income tax. The standard deduction in the new structure has been increased from ₹50,000 to ₹75,000. Additionally, changes were made so that taxpayers can benefit by ₹17,500 under the new tax regime.

Under the new tax structure:

- Income from ₹3 to ₹7 lakhs will be taxed at 5%

- Income from ₹7 to ₹10 lakhs will be taxed at 10%

- Income from ₹10 to ₹12 lakhs will be taxed at 15%

- Income from ₹12 to ₹15 lakhs will be taxed at 20%

- Income above ₹15 lakhs will be taxed at 30%

No changes were made to the old tax structure.

The Finance Minister announced that not submitting TDS on time would no longer be considered a crime. The exemption on capital gains was increased from ₹1 lakh to ₹2.25 lakhs. The Finance Minister also announced a reduction in TDS on e-commerce transactions and promised further simplification of the income tax structure, with reduced penalties for late submissions.

The Finance Minister stated that 58% of taxpayers filed under the new tax regime. The Modi government is considering further simplifying the income tax law. The TDS rules will also be simplified.

In the interim budget before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the tax exemption limit was raised, but no changes were made to the income tax structure in the final budget of Modi's second term. Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister, mentioned that new tax decisions were not announced due to the election year. The old tax structure was maintained until March 2024 and extended until the next budget. The old structure imposed the lowest tax rate on incomes above ₹2.5 lakhs.

The country has two types of income tax structures: the old and the new. The new structure offers fewer exemptions but lower rates, while the old structure, with higher rates, provides various exemptions.