Budget 2023 Expectations Live: What India wants from FM Nirmala Sitharaman - Wishlist

Budget 2023: Experts want easy line of access for start-up, MSMEs

Brijesh Samantaray, co-founder, Propelld, said that Fintech industry has now become one of the fastest-growing segments in technology and transformed the way how financial services are fostered. "As our country sets upon the goal of hitting the $5-trillion mark by 2025, I expect the digital economy to grow even further, with a majority of India’s population and small businesses adopting digital means to access payments and financial services. The government should ease financial burden for start-ups in fintech industry. The government should implement policies that would promote collaboration between banks and loan providers to assist customers in getting loans in an accessible manner whether for personal or business purposes."

Sanjay Sharma, MD and CEO, Aye Finance, said that support for the 70 mn micro scale enterprises is the need of the hour and this budget could focus on this. Lending to micro enterprises by NBFCs and Banks should be encouraged. There is also need for allocation for initiatives that help improve the quality of the produce of micro enterprises.

Priya Ranjan Panigrahy, CEO and founder, CEPTES Software, said that the Digital India programme is a great initiative for companies like start-ups, SaaS based and new-age companies. "The budget should focus on measures for the development and adoption of new technologies such as cloud computing artificial intelligence, machine learning and the Internet of Things."

All-party meeting in Parliament ahead of Parliament's Budget Session 

An all-party meeting called by the government ahead of the Budget Session of Parliament commenced on Monday morning. Deputy Leader of the House, Rajnath Singh, Parliament Affairs minister, Pralhad Joshi, Leader of the House, Piyush Goyal, MoS, Parliamentary Affairs, Arjuna, Ram Meghwal, and V Muraleedharan were among those present for the meeting held at the Parliament. All top leaders from the opposition parties including DMK leader, TR, Balu, TMC leaders, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, TRS leaders K Keshava Rao and Nama Nageswara Rao were in attendance. Other party leaders who were present include Vijayasai Reddy from YSR Congress, Farooq Abdullah from the National Conference, Professor Manoj Jha from the RJD and Ram Nath Thakur of JDU. Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) was represented by Priyanka Chaturvedi. Congress leaders were absent from the meeting.

The Budget Session of Parliament will commence on January 31 with the address by the President of India to a Joint sitting of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in the Central Hall of Parliament. The Economic Survey will also be tabled in both Houses on the first day of the Session. The Union Budget 2023-24 will be presented on February 1 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha. Later the Budget will be tabled in Rajya Sabha.
 

All party-meeting, a day ahead of the commencement of the #BudgetSession of Parliament, underway in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/RkhPqdlZQz

— ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2023

Budget 2023 Expectation: Will govt hike Rs 6000 assistance under PM-KISAN?

The government should in this year's Budget enhance cash assistance given to farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme from the current Rs 6,000 per year for purchase of crop inputs, provide tax incentives to agritech startups and cut import duties on agrochemicals, according to industry experts. There is also need to announce some incentives to farmers as well as agrictech startups for faster adoption of technologies, like artificial intelligence, precision farming and drones, in Indian agriculture sector, they added. FULL STORY

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said that a budget expectation this year is a relief for income taxpayers. The basic exemption limit of Rs 2.5 lakh crores was fixed in 2014 and, therefore, needs revision. Raising the exemption limit to Rs 4 lakh crores is likely. This relief is likely to be offered in the ‘ no exemption regime’ since the government wants this regime to take off. Rationalisation of the capital gains tax regime is another expectation. The current system is complex with different tax rates and holding periods for different investments. This needs simplification.

Budget 2023: Section 24 limit to be hiked?

There are several sections under the Income Tax Act that provide taxpayers with tax exemption. One among them is Section 24. Under Section 24, taxpayers can claim deductions of up to Rs 2 lakh on the interest paid on home loans. FULL STORY
 

Budget से पहले #ZeeBusiness की वित्त मंत्री @nsitharaman से मांग

होम लोन ब्याज पर सालाना छूट सिर्फ 2 लाख क्यों?

सेक्शन 24 की लिमिट 5 लाख तक बढ़ाएं वित्त मंत्री...

और क्या चाहिए #BudgetOnZee में #AnilSinghvi पर बताएं#HomeLoan #Tax #Budget2023 @FinMinIndia @nsitharamanoffc pic.twitter.com/wpHcvE2la5

— Zee Business (@ZeeBusiness) January 30, 2023

WATCH: UPI transactions to attract charges? 

In an exclusive interaction with Zee Business, Pankaj Dedhia, Chief Business Officer, CCAvenue, talks about how Budget 2023 may incentivise UPI transactions, and what more govt. is likely to offer in terms of digital banking. WATCH INTERVIEW

Budget 2023: Will govt hike deduction under 80D?

Aftab Chaz, Associate Director and Business Head, Elephant.in, said that health insurance and life insurance should not be subjected to GST. Additionally, in the health insurance category, there should be a larger deduction limit for health insurance premiums in Section 80D of the Income Tax. It would be highly beneficial if a separate Section is provided for deductions for payments for term life insurance policies. Moreover, the current limit for health premiums (including preventive medical check-up costs) is too low and needs to be increased as well.

Budget 2023: Insurance sector set to witness major changes - key details

The insurance sector in India is likely to witness some major changes this year. Experts believe that legal and regulatory changes proposed/made will have far-reaching impact. According to a Zee Business report, there could be several changes for the insurance sector in the upcoming Union Budget 2023. According to the report, the Budget Insurance Amendment Bill can be introduced in the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament which is being prepared by the Department of Financial Services (DFS) in collaboration with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). FULL STORY

Why budget's printing was shifted to North Block from Rashtrapati Bhavan?

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the union budget for the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) in parliament on Wednesday, February 1. Several traditions are followed before the presentation of the union budget. One of them is the Halwa Ceremony, which took place on Thursday, January 26. With the Halwa ceremony, the printing of the budget gets a green signal. This printing is generally being done in the basement of the North Block. FULL STORY

Budget 2023: Finance Ministry contemplating sops for middle class

The Finance Ministry is considering proposals to benefit the middle class in its last full Budget of the Narendra Modi 2.0 government to be presented on February 1 in the Lok Sabha. The ministry is looking into proposals sent by various government departments on specific steps which may be announced in the Budget, benefitting a large section of the middle class, PTI sources said. The government has not raised income tax exemption limit from Rs 2.5 lakh which was fixed in 2014 by the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his first Budget. Also, the standard deduction has remained at Rs 50,000 since 2019. Several experts are of the opinion that the exemption limit, as well as standard deduction, need to be increased to compensate the salaried middle class for elevated level of inflation. The recent statement of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that she was aware of the pressures of the middle class has raised hope that some incentives may come for them in the upcoming Budget. "I too belong to the middle class so I can understand the pressures of the middle class. I identify myself with the middle class so I know," she had said earlier this month. In the same breath, the minister reminded that the present Modi government has not imposed any fresh taxes on the middle class.
 

Halwa ceremony returns as Budget 2023 enters final stage PHOTOS

'Budget 2023 should be favourable to EV'

The year that went by was significant as far as the Indian electric vehicle (EV) industry is concerned as in the three wheeler segment EV vehicles overtook the traditional fuel-powered ones, said Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Founder and CEO, Kinetic Green. Like last year's Union Budget which was positive for the EV industry, this year too she expects it to favour the sector. "2022 was a significant year for the EV sector in India. The industry saw EVs outnumbering ICE (internal combustion engine) in the three-wheeler sector, a significant rise in sales of EVs, and the initiation of EV component manufacturing in the country," Motwani said. According to her, while India is heading strongly toward the EV revolution, supply chain constraints limited the movement. IANS

Vimal Singh SV, founder & CEO of ReadyAssist, said that with rising demand in skilled workforce and India playing a pivotal role in the automobile segment, it is important to ensure our country is able to produce high skilled candidates to capitalise this moment. "India would need at least 4 lakhs EV skilled mechanics to address the need of EV service in the next 2 years. The budget should consider making framework and controls that will ensure right allocation of funds and support to empower training facilities and programs through private organisations. Aiding the EV enablers ecosystem is something in the budget which everyone in the automobile industry is looking forward for as it would play a pivotal role to further catlayse the growth of the industry &  help in full filling India's dream of being an EV nation."

Budget 2023: What is Long Term Capital Gains Tax?

The Finance Ministry is likely to be looking at ensuring parity between similar asset classes by rationalising the LTCG tax structure and even revising the base year for computing inflation adjusted capital gains, sources aware of developments said, according to a report by news agency IANS. FULL STORY

Budget 2023: Will govt tweak long term capital gain tax?

The government may look at rationalising long term capital gains (LTCG) tax structure in the forthcoming Union Budget for 2023-24. As of now, shares held for more than one year attract a 10 per cent LTCG tax. This tax was discontinued in 2005, but was reintroduced in 2018 in the Union Budget for that fiscal. According to IANS, the Finance Ministry is learnt to be looking at ensuring parity between similar asset classes by rationalising the LTCG tax structure and even revising the base year for computing inflation adjusted capital gains. Ajay Lakhotia, Founder & CEO, StockGro, said that the budget will seek to foot action items to drive the economy to the set goals. There are expectations of fresh reforms and tax benefits, investors will be eyeing what the Finance Minister says about startups and tax benefits on long term capital gain. A rational shift to provide impetus to the startup ecosystem along with a boost to the sun-shine sectors like silicon chip and battery manufacturing will also play a crucial role. 

FHRAI wants infrastructure status to hospitality sector

The hospitality sector needs to be accorded infrastructure status by the Centre to help it avail long-term funds under the RBI infrastructure lending norm criteria, according to Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India. In its pre-Budget demand, the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) said although industry status has been accorded to tourism and hospitality by many state governments, the incentives and privileges associated with an industry have not been conferred to the sector.

"The industry needs infrastructure status to be accorded by Government of India to enable the hospitality sector avail long-term funds under the RBI Infrastructure lending norm criteria," FHRAI Secretary General Jaison Chacko said in a statement. FULL STORY