Budget 2018-19 Income Tax Relaxation Highlights, Income Tax Relaxation in Budget 2019-20

Interim Budget 2019-20 was presented in Parliament by the Interim Union Finance Minister, Corporate Affairs, Railways & Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal. He delivered the longest interim Budget speech of 1.42 hours. Outlined below are the Income Tax Relaxation & Budget Highlights proposed in the budget FY10:

Income Tax Relaxation & Budget Highlights

  1. No income tax on individuals for income upto Rs 5 lakhs as tax rebate limit under 87A has been increased from Rs 3.5 lakhs to Rs 5 lakhs
  2. Income Tax slabs and rates will remain the same for FY 2019-20 for those with income over Rs 5 lakhs
  3. Standard deduction for salaried employees is hiked from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000
  4. Gratuity limit increased for workers from Rs 10 lakhs currently to Rs 30 lakhs
  5. TDS limit hiked from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000 on Bank deposits and Post Office Savings deposits
  6. No tax on notional rent of second Self-occupied House
  7. Increase in TDS threshold on rent from Rs 1,80,000 to Rs 2,40,000
  8. Section 54 exemption now available on the second house property, if one has long-term capital gains from the sale of property of upto Rs 2 crores. This will be permitted only once.
  9. Benefits under Sec 80(i)BA being extended for 1 more year for all housing projects approved till end of 2019-2020

  10. Budget 2019 allocates Rs 60,000 crores for MGNREGA
  11. Defence budget increases to Rs 3 lakh crore. It is the highest ever budgetary allocation given to defence
  12. Allocation to Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is Rs 19,000 crore
  13. Allocation for Startup India programme has been reduced to Rs 25 crore for 2019-20
  14. Allocation for Rashtriya Gokul Mission has been raised to 750 crore
  15. Government has revised the fiscal deficit target to 3.4% in FY 19
  16. CAD (current account deficit) likely to be 2.5% of GDP in FY 19

  17. SMEs having earnings less than Rs 5 Crores, comprising over 90% of GST payers, will need to file GST returns only once in 3 months or on quarterly basis
  18. 2% interest subvention on loan of Rs 1 crore for GST registered MSME units
  19. Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAmman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) has been introduced in order to support around 12 crore farmers (having up to 2 hectare of cultivable land) with assured direct annual income of Rs 6000
  20. Under Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme, farmers pursuing animal husbandry and fisheries will get 2% interest subvention. An additional 3% interest subvention will be provided to those who repay the loans timely
  21. Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan Yojana has been introduced for benefitting 10 crores workers of unorganised sector having income up to Rs 15,000 per month. Under this scheme, the beneficiaries will get a pension of Rs 3,000 per month after their retirement with a contribution of Rs 100 per month
  22. Government to build 1 lakh digital villages
  23. Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all 22 crops has been increased by 1.5 times the production cost

  24. Unprecedented 99.54% income-tax returns accepted as having been filed without any scrutiny
  25. All income tax returns are likely to be processed in 24 hours over the next two years