Finance Minister P Chidambaram presented his fourth Budget in Parliament on Monday.
Income upto Rs 1,00,000 per annum exempted from tax
Income between Rs 1-1.5 lakh to be taxed at 10%
Rs 1.5-2.5 lakh income to be taxed at 20%
Income above Rs 2.5 lakh to be taxed at 30%
Exemption level for women at Rs 1.25 lakh
Exemption level for senior citizens at Rs 1.5 lakh
Consolidated limit of Rs 1 lakh of saving to be deducted from income before calculating tax
Standard deduction removed from tax structure
0.01 per cent tax on withdrawal of over Rs 10,000 in cash from banks on a single days
Payment of electricity bill of over Rs 50,000 a year replaces mobile phone owners in the one-in-six criteria for filing income tax returns
Govt proposes 50 paise per litre cess on petrol and diesel to fund highways
Defence allocation to be increased to Rs 83,000 crore next fiscal
Customs duty on crude petroleum to be cut to 5% from 10%
LPG for domestic consumption and subsidised kerosene not to attract customs and excise duties
Customs duty on motor spirit, high speed diesel and other petroleum products to be lowered to 10% from 15-20%
Specific rate on cigarettes to be increased by about 20 per cent
Other tobacco products, including gutka, chewing tobacco, saunf and pan masala to attract 10% surcharge on ad valorem basis
Fringe Benefits Tax of 30 per cent on benefits collectively enjoyed by employees
Transport services for workers and staff and canteen services in an office, factory exempted from tax
Peak customs duty for non-agricultural products to be reduced to 15 per cent from 20 per cent
Fiscal deficit pegged at Rs 1,51,144 crore or 4.3 per cent of GDP during 2005-06
Revenue deficit proposed to be Rs 95,312 cr or 2.7 per cent of GDP for next fiscal
Plan expenditure is estimated at Rs 1,72,500 crore for 2005-06
Of plan expenditure, Rs 29,003 cr to be raised as loans by state governments directly
Non-plan expenditure at Rs 370.85 crore for next fiscal.
Re 1 per kg surcharge on tea to be abolished
Re 1 per kg excise duty on refined edible oils and
Rs 1.25 per kg on vanaspati to be removed
Matches made by mechanised and semi-mechanised sector to pay 12 pc excise duty against the present 16%
Securities transaction tax hiked to 0.02 per cent on all categories of trade
Excise duty on imitation jewellery to be cut to 8% from 16%
2% excise duty on branded jewellery, unbranded exempted
Customs duty on specified capital goods and all inputs for manufacture of IT Agreement bound items to be removed
Countervailing duty of 4 pc on imports of IT agreement bound items, IT software will be exempt
Customs duties on cut flower to be raised from 30% to 60%
Customs duty on cloves to be lowered to 35%
Customs duty on all other agricultural goods to be same
Customs duty on most textile machinery reduced to 10% from 20%
Customs duties on primary and secondary metals to be cut to 10% from 15%
Coking coal with high ash content to attract 5% customs duty in place of 15%
Customs duty on polyester and nylon chips, textile fibres, yarns and intermediates, fabrics and garments to be cut to 15% from 20%
Service tax to remain at 10%
Domestic companies to pay 30% corporate income tax and 10% surcharge
No change in the tax regime for foreign companies
Polyester filament yarn, tyres and air conditioners to attract 16% CENVAT against the present 24%
CENVAT on motors cars and aerated drinks remain unchanged at 24%
Customs duty on 9 specified machinery used in pharma and biotechnology sectors to be cut to 5%
Customs duty on specified parts of battery-operated road vehicles and for printing presses to be lowered from 20% to 10%
Customs duty on primary and secondary metals to be cut to 10% from the existing 15%
Service providers up to Rs 4 lakh gross turnover to be exempted from service tax
Membership fee of clubs, associations and other services to be in the service tax-net
The rate of depreciation to be 15% for general machinery and plant
Initial depreciation rate to be raised to 20%
Withholding tax on technical services to be cut to 20% from 10%
Credit to be allowed for Minimum Alternate Tax
Exemption from tax on agreements to acquire aircraft to aircraft engines on lease to be extended to September 30, 2005.