The year 2019 has witnessed the Union Budget twice. The interim Budget was presented in February, 2019 but after the super victory of BJP-led government, the full budget was presented on 5th July, 2019. The newly appointed union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the full budget in the parliament. The budget was full of few hits and misses. Various announcements in the budget were lived up to the expectations of the common people whole some announcements really fell short. Here is how Union Budget 2019 is going to affect the common people of the country:
Change in the Income tax slab
This year the income tax slab for the lower and middle income groups remained unchanged. However, for the higher income group, Niramala Sitharaman proposed to increase the surcharge of 3%. Now the individuals with an income between Rs 2 crore and Rs 5 crore have to pay higher tax.
Tax-break for buying an affordable house
Here is another happy announcement for the people. Under the newly introduced section 80EEA subject to certain conditions, individuals can now claim for additional deduction of Rs 1.5 lakhs on the interest paid on buying the house. This helps in making the home buying experience affordable for the people. Certain conditions for getting the tax break on buying the house include:
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- Loan should be taken between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020
- Value of the property should not be more than Rs 45 lakhs
- Individuals applying for the loan should not own any house at the time of applying the loan
2% TDS imposed on withdrawing cash
In order to promote digital payments and discourage the cash transactions, 2% TDS is imposed on withdrawing cash exceeding Rs 1 crore from a bank account.
Facility for women
To encourage women entrepreneurship, Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that the verified members of the Jan Dhan Yojna account will now be able to get an overdraft facility of Rs 5,000.
Hike in the prices of Petrol/diesel
Special additional excise duty and road cess on petrol and diesel has also been increased by Rs 1 per litre. This led to the increase in the prices of petrol and diesel for the common people.
Imposed custom duties
As per the announcements in Union Budget 2019, basic custom duties are imposed on items like auto parts, camera, vinyl flooring, cashew, synthetic rubber and few more items. This led to the increase in the prices of these commodities. Along with this, the custom duty on gold and other precious metals has also been increased. Custom duty on gold has increased from 10% to 12.5%. Now, buying gold has become costlier. 5% custom duty is also imposed on imported books.