Union Budget 2010-11 Key Highlights

The key points to note are as follows:

Income-tax:

o Income-tax slabs revised – For general category, no tax upto Rs 1.6 lakh; 10% from Rs 1.6 lakh to Rs 5 lakh; 20% from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 8 lakh; 30% above Rs 8 lakh.

o Deduction of Rs 20,000 permissible over and above existing limit of Rs 1 lakh, for investment in infrastructure bonds.

o SARAL-II form for income-tax returns to be notified, for individual salaried taxpayers.

o Surcharge on domestic companies reduced to 7.5%; Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) increased to 18%.

o Direct Tax code to be implemented from April 1, 2011.

Excise duty:

o Excise duty (on all non-petroleum products) increased from 8% to 10%.

o Excise duty on large cars, MUV, SUV increased to 22%.

o Duty on petrol and diesel increased by Re 1 per litre each.

o Excise duty impact increased on cigarettes, TVs, ACs, gold and silver.

· Service tax rate remains the same. New services to be brought in within the purview of service tax.

· GST to be implemented by April 2011.

· Govt to raise Rs 25,000 crore through disinvestment. Key companies to be divested are Oil India, NHPC, NTPC and REC.

· Nutrient based subsidy policy for fertilizer sector to be effective from April 1, 2010.

· Rs 1,73,552 crore allocated for infrastructure development; accounts for 46% of plan allocation.

· Fiscal deficit for BE 2010-11 at 5.5% of GDP; Revised estimates of 2009-10 peg fiscal deficit at 6.9%.

· Advance estimates for GDP growth for 2009-10 pegged at 7.2%.