Budget in 2 minutes

DIRECT TAXES
Super-rich to pay surcharge
To augment revenues, a surcharge of 10 per cent will be levied on persons (other than companies) whose annual taxable income exceeds Rs 1 crore.

Higher surcharge on corporate tax

The surcharge on domestic companies with taxable income exceeding Rs 10 crore has been increased from five per cent to 10 per cent. For foreign companies, which pay a higher corporate tax, the surcharge will increase from two per cent to five per cent, if the taxable income exceeds Rs 10 crore.

Investment allowance for firms
Manufacturing companies that invest more than Rs 100 crore in plant and machinery during the period April 1, 2013, to March 31, 2015, have been permitted investment allowance at the rate of 15 per cent.
 

TDS on sale of property at 1%
TDS at the rate of one per cent will be levied on the value of transfer of immovable properties where consideration exceeds Rs 50 lakh. Agricultural land will be exempted.

Tax on royalty payments goes up
The rate of tax on payments by way of royalty and fees for technical services to non-residents will be increased from 10 to 25 per cent.

Securities tax selectively reduced
Securities Transaction Tax on equity futures has been cut from 0.017 per cent to 0.01 per cent.

INDIRECT TAXES
Excise, service tax rates unchanged
There is no change in the normal rates of 12 per cent for excise duty and service tax.

Sops for electric vehicles extended
The period of concession available for specified parts of electric and hybrid vehicles extended up to March 31, 2015.

Concessions for leather industry
Duty on specified machinery for the manufacture of leather and leather goods has been reduced from 7.5 to five per cent.

Duty on set top boxes raised
Duty on Set Top Boxes increased from five per cent to 10 per cent.

Duty on raw silk up
Duty on raw silk increased from five per cent to 15 per cent.

Duty on imported luxury goods up
Duties on imported luxury goods such as high-end motor vehicles, motor cycles, yachts and similar vessels have been increased.

Duty-free baggage limit hiked
Duty-free baggage limit increased to Rs 50,000 in case of male passenger and Rs 1,00,000 in case of a female passenger, subject to conditions.

Relief for garment industry
In the case of cotton, there will be zero excise duty at the fibre stage, too. In the case of spun yarn made of man-made fibre, a duty of 12 per cent will be levied at the fibre stage.

Excise on SUVs hiked
Excise duty on SUVs has been increased from 27 per cent to 30 per cent. But this is not applicable to SUVs registered as taxies.

Duty on mobiles hiked
The duty on mobile phones priced at more than Rs 2,000 has been raised to six per cent.

Excise on cigarettes goes up
Specific excise duty on cigarettes has been increased by about 18 per cent, and similar increases have been imposed on cigars, cheroots and cigarillos.

Service tax on restaurants
Service tax will be levied on all air-conditioned restaurants irrespective of whether they serve liquor or not.

Excise on marble up
Excise duty on marble increased from Rs 30 per square meter to Rs 60 per square meter.