Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Highlights of Budget 2018-19
Ministry of Finance
Highlights of Budget 2018-19
Posted On: 01 FEB 2018 2:06PM by PIB Delhi
- Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley presents general Budget 2018-19 in Parliament.
- Budget guided by mission to strengthen agriculture, rural development, health, education, employment, MSME and infrastructure sectors
- Government says, a series of structural reforms will propel India among the fastest growing economies of the world. Country firmly on course to achieve over 8 % growth as manufacturing, services and exports back on good growth path.
- MSP for all unannounced kharif crops will be one and half times of their production cost like majority of rabi crops: Institutional Farm Credit raised to 11 lakh crore in 2018-19 from 8.5 lakh crore in 2014-15.
- 22,000 rural haats to be developed and upgraded into Gramin Agricultural Markets to protect the interests of 86% small and marginal farmers.
- “Operation Greens” launched to address price fluctuations in potato, tomato and onion for benefit of farmers and consumers.
- Two New Funds of Rs10,000 crore announced for Fisheries and Animal Husbandary sectors; Re-structured National Bamboo Mission gets Rs.1290 crore.
- Loans to Women Self Help Groups will increase to Rs.75,000 crore in 2019 from 42,500 crore last year.
- Higher targets for Ujjwala, Saubhagya and Swachh Mission to cater to lower and middle class in providing free LPG connections, electricity and toilets.
- Outlay on health, education and social protection will be 1.38 lakh crore. Tribal students to get Ekalavya Residential School in each tribal block by 2022. Welfare fund for SCs gets a boost.
- World’s largest Health Protection Scheme covering over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families launched with a family limit upto 5 lakh rupees for secondary and tertiary treatment.
- Fiscal Deficit pegged at 3.5 %, projected at 3.3 % for 2018-19.
- Rs. 5.97 lakh crore allocation for infrastructure
- Ten prominent sites to be developed as Iconic tourist destinations
- NITI Aayog to initiate a national programme on Artificial Intelligence(AI)
- Centres of excellence to be set up on robotics, AI, Internet of things etc
- Disinvestment crossed target of Rs 72,500 crore to reach Rs 1,00,000 crore
- Comprehensive Gold Policy on the anvil to develop yellow metal as an asset class
- 100 percent deduction proposed to companies registered as Farmer Producer Companies with an annual turnover upto Rs. 100 crore on profit derived from such activities, for five years from 2018-19.
- Deduction of 30 percent on emoluments paid to new employees Under Section 80-JJAA to be relaxed to 150 days for footwear and leather industry, to create more employment.
- No adjustment in respect of transactions in immovable property where Circle Rate value does not exceed 5 percent of consideration.
- Proposal to extend reduced rate of 25 percent currently available for companies with turnover of less than 50 crore (in Financial Year 2015-16), to companies reporting turnover up to Rs. 250 crore in Financial Year 2016-17, to benefit micro, small and medium enterprises.
- Standard Deduction of Rs. 40,000 in place of present exemption for transport allowance and reimbursement of miscellaneous medical expenses. 2.5 crore salaried employees and pensioners to benefit.
- Relief to Senior Citizens proposed:-
- Exemption of interest income on deposits with banks and post offices to be increased from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 50,000.
- TDS not required to be deducted under section 194A. Benefit also available for interest from all fixed deposit schemes and recurring deposit schemes.
- Hike in deduction limit for health insurance premium and/ or medical expenditure from Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 50,000 under section 80D.
- Increase in deduction limit for medical expenditure for certain critical illness from Rs. 60,000 (in case of senior citizens) and from Rs. 80,000 (in case of very senior citizens) to Rs. 1 lakh for all senior citizens, under section 80DDB.
- Proposed to extend Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana up to March, 2020. Current investment limit proposed to be increased to Rs. 15 lakh from the existing limit of Rs. 7.5 lakh per senior citizen.
- More concessions for International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), to promote trade in stock exchanges located in IFSC.
- To control cash economy, payments exceeding Rs. 10,000 in cash made by trusts and institutions to be disallowed and would be subject to tax.
- Tax on Long Term Capital Gains exceeding Rs. 1 lakh at the rate of 10 percent, without allowing any indexation benefit. However, all gains up to 31st January, 2018 will be grandfathered.
- Proposal to introduce tax on distributed income by equity oriented mutual funds at the rate of 10 percent.
- Proposal to increase cess on personal income tax and corporation tax to 4 percent from present 3 percent.
- Proposal to roll out E-assessment across the country to almost eliminate person to person contact leading to greater efficiency and transparency in direct tax collection.
- Proposed changes in customs duty to promote creation of more jobs in the country and also to incentivise domestic value addition and Make in India in sectors such as food processing, electronics, auto components, footwear and furniture.
Sunday, February 04, 2018
Circle Union writes to PMG Berhampur regarding revision of appointment date of PAs of Phulbani Division.
No. P3NFPEOdisha / Phulbani Dn. – 03/ 2018
Dated at Bhubaneswar the 4th February, 2018
To
The Postmaster General
Berhampur Region
Berhampur – 760 001
Sub: Payment of admissible pay and allowances from the date of joining in the in-house training – Case of Phulbani Division
Respected Sir,
This has a kind reference to this Circle Union letter No. P3NFPEOdisha / Phulbani Dn. – 02/ 2017, dated 02.11.2017 and Item No. 02–09 / 2017 of the Bimonthly Meeting with the PMG, Berhampur held on 06.09.2017 which reads as follows.
21 P As of Phulbani Division listed below are given in-house / pre-induction training before issuance of formal appointment order in contravention to Directorate’s letter No. 60-9/2010-SPB-I dated 10th November 2010 & 30th December 2010 as a result of which they were debarred of the admissible duty pay and allowances from the date of training.
Sl. No Name Training Period Appointed From
1 Bibekananda Bisoyi 20.12.2010 to 01.01.2011 03.01.2011
2 Sujit Kumar Sahu 20.12.2010 to 01.01.2011 03.01.2011
3 Sibani Panda 20.12.2010 to 01.01.2011 01.01.2011 a/n
4 Rabinarayan Choudhury 20.12.2010 to 01.01.2011 03.01.2011
5 Debasish Panda 20.12.2010 to 01.01.2011 01.01.2011 a/n
6 Jogeswar Panda 20.12.2010 to 01.01.2011 01.01.2011 a/n
7 Subhasish Karmee 27.12.2010 to 08.01.2011 08.01.2011 a/n
8 Tejaswini Padhy 27.12.2010 to 08.01.2011 08.01.2011 a/n
9 Pragyan Paramita Mallick 27.12.2010 to 08.01.2011 08.01.2011 a/n
10 Santosh Kumar Padhy 27.12.2010 to 08.01.2011 08.01.2011 a/n
11 Sudhansu Sekhar Sadangi 27.12.2010 to 08.01.2011 08.01.2011 a/n
12 Malaya Ranjan Mishra 27.12.2010 to 08.01.2011 08.01.2011 a/n
13 Ratna Manjari Baliarsingh 27.12.2010 to 08.01.2011 08.01.2011 a/n
14 Binod Kumar Dalai 27.12.2010 to 08.01.2011 08.01.2011 a/n
15 Arakhita Nayak 11.07.2011 to 23.07.2011 25.07.2011
16 Vicky Behera 11.07.2011 to 23.07.2011 25.07.2011
17 Santosh Kopat Patra 11.07.2011 to 23.07.2011 25.07.2011
18 Sajan Kumar Mahapatra 13.04.2015 to 25.04.2015 27.04.2015
19 Sudhir Kumar Sethi 13.04.2015 to 25.04.2015 27.04.2015
20 Chittaranjan Senapati 13.04.2015 to 25.04.2015 28.04.2015
21 Prafulla Kumar Jena 13.04.2015 to 25.04.2015 27.04.2015
Though, we were replied that the matter will be taken up with the SPOs, Phulbani, no action has yet been taken in this regard and the above employees are debarred from getting their financial benefits till date.
Therefore, this Circle Union requests once again for modification of the date of appointment of the above officials with payment of admissible pay and allowances from the date of joining in the in-house training.
Awaiting your kind response, Sir.
With regards.
Yours faithfully,
(B SAMAL)
Circle Secretary
Abolition of Posts of Vacant for more than 05 Years – Finmin Orders
Abolition of Posts of Vacant for more than 05 Years – Finmin Orders
Submission of Action Taken Report Regarding Abolition of Posts of Vacant for more than 05 Years
No.19011/01/2015-Fin.II (Pt.)
Government of India
Ministry of Home Affairs
North Block, New Delhi,
Dated January 19, 2018
OFFICE-MEMORANDUM
Sub: Submission of Action Taken Report Regarding Abolition of Posts of Vacant for more than 05 Years – reg.
The undersigned is directed to forward OM of Department of Expenditure No. 7(1)/E.Coord-I/2017 dated 16th January, 2017 on the above mentioned subject. It is requested to identify the posts which are vacant for more than five years and submit a comprehensive report of abolition of such posts to Department of Expenditure through the Administrative Ministry Concerned latest by 25th January, 2018 under intimation to IFD (Home).
(Kumar Manoj Kashyap)
Under Secretary & AFA (Fin-II)
————————————————–
No. 7(1)/E.Coord-I/2017
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Expenditure
North Block, New Delhi
Dated, the 16th January, 2018
Office Memorandum
Subject: Submission of Action Taken Report regarding abolition of posts of vacant for more than 05 years.
The undersigned is directed to refer to this Department’s O.M. of even no. dated 12.04.2017 and subsequent remindes of even no. dated 02.05.2017 and 21.07.2017, wherein Financial Advisers of all Ministries/Departments were requested to submit an Action Taken Report regarding abolition of posts which are vacant for more than 05 years in their respective attached/subordinate/statutory bodies. Some Departments has responded in this regard, but instead of providing a comprehensive report, the requisite information has been provided in piecemeal manner.
2. Therefore, Financial Advisers and Joint Secretaries (Administration) of all Ministries/Departments are requested to identify the posts which are vacant for more than 05 years and submit a comprehensive report of abolition of such posts in main Ministry and their respective attached/subordinate/statutory bodies to his Department by 25.01.2018.
3. This issues with the approval of Joint Secretary (Pers.).
sd/-
(Sobeer Singh)
Under Secretary (E.Coord.I)
Authority: www.mha.nic.in
Budget 2018 gives Rs 40,000 standard deduction, removes other allowances: Salaried may be left poorer
Budget 2018 proposes to provide standard deduction of Rs 40,000 from salary income to employees but also proposes to take away existing annual transport allowance of Rs 19,200 and Rs 15,000 medical reimbursement. Prima facie income exempted from tax after setting off the gain and loss is Rs 5800 only. The tax saved for each employee on this income would depend on the tax slab that income falls into. The saving in tax would be Rs 290 for those currently paying 5% tax on this income; Rs 1160 for those paying 20% tax on this income; and Rs 1740 for those paying 30% tax on this income. However, these savings would be nullified in most cases, except in the case of income up to Rs 5 lakh, due to increase in the cess payable from current 3% to 4% on the rest of the income tax payable by the individual. As a consequence, individuals with income above Rs 5 lakh would end up shelling out more tax after taking into account the standard deduction, the removal of the allowances and the increase in cess. (Refer tables below for calculations)
However, pensioners will benefit substantially as earlier they did not get any standard deduction or any of the other allowances given to salaried employees. They would save tax payable on this entire amount of deduction but of course have to pay the increased cess on the balance income.
Currently, medical bills of up to Rs 15000 were reimbursable to employees tax free per financial year by employers. A tax-exempt transport allowance of Rs 19200 per financial year was also allowed to be paid to employees.
Standard deduction is essentially a flat amount subtracted from the salary income before calculation of taxable income. The standard deduction was a part of the Income-tax Act until former finance minister, P. Chidambaram, withdrew it in the Union budget of 2005-06. Standard deduction allowed the salaried class to take care of expenses that didn't come under the purview of the income tax rules.
The standard deduction that was allowed was equivalent to Rs 30,000 or 40% of the income, whichever was lower, for salaried employees earning an annual income between Rs 75,000 and Rs 5 lakh. There was also a limit set for standard deduction at Rs 20,000 for those earning more than Rs 5 lakh.
The simplicity of calculation of standard deduction was its main advantage. It was given as a straight deduction from the income chargeable under the head salary. It did not require any disclosures, investment proofs or bills.
It had put the salaried tax payers at par with the consultants, self-employed and freelancers who are allowed to take deductions on expenses incurred for earning that income.
The removal of standard deduction from the tax structure basically meant that the salaried class paid the tax on 'Gross Income', while consultants, self-employed and freelancers paid income tax on their 'Net Income'.
For taxable salary income of Rs 5 lakh
For taxable salary income of Rs 25 lakh
For taxable salary income of Rs 65 lakh
For taxable salary income of Rs 1.2 crore
General Budget 2018-19 – NCJCM Letter to Finance Minister
No.NC/JCM/2018
Dated: February 2, 2018
Hon’ble Finance Minister,
Ministry of Finance,
(Government of India),
North Block,
New Delhi
Respected Sir,
Sub: General Budget 2018-19
We hope that, standard deduction, up to Rs.40,000 in the Budget (2018-19) announcement, was provided to give some relief to the salaried class, but at the same time, there is serious resentment in the salaried class in general and the Central Government Employees in particular because of non-enhancement of limit of the Income Tax.
We were hopeful that, in this budget, the Central Government would provide Income Tax exemption, if not Rupees Five Lakh, definitely Four Lakh, but nothing has been done, which has resulted in desperation in the Government Employees. Moreover, Education Cess has been increased from 3% to 4%, which will further put additional tax burden on the salaried class. In such a situation standard deduction given by the government will definitely not going to help to any salaried employees.
Not only the above, Transport Allowance and Medical Reimbursement, used to exempt earlier, have also been stopped in this budget, has given another blow to the salaried class.
Since there is all-round resentment in the salaried class, it would be in all appropriateness if the Income Tax Exemption is enhanced to minimum Rupees Four Lakh.
Sir, Government Employees are also very eagerly awaiting for improvement in the Minimum Wage and Fitment Formula as well as announcement of the Guaranteed Pension to the employees covered under the National Pension System(NPS). These also need to be given top priority to keep industrial peace among the Government Employees.
It is also requested that, Transport Allowance and Medical Reimbursement, almost exempted from the Income Tax, should also remain exempted from the Income Tax, to give some relief to the government employees in distress.
With Kind Regards!
Sincerely yours
(Shiva Gopal Mishra)
Secretary (Staff Side)
National Council (JCM)
Source : NCJCM
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