Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for 2022-23 on February 1. The new budget focuses on fast-tracking the economy, providing opportunities to businesses and creating six million new jobs. Besides this, infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture and the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) were the main focus of the budget. However, contrary to the widespread expectation, no changes have been made on the income tax bracket.
Nirmala Sitharaman, however, proposed that the tax deduction limit be increased from 10% to 14% for Central and State government employees, stating that this would help the social security benefits of state government employees and bring them at par with the central government employees. Apart from this, to correct any error while filing an IRT, the taxpayers can now file an updated return within 2 years from the relevant assessment year.
The Finance Minister also proposed a reduction in corporate surcharge from 12% to 7% and said that the transfer of any virtual digital asset shall be taxed at the rate of 30%. Moreover, a further 1% TDS will be charged on payments made using digital assets to keep track of the transactions.
As per the New Budget 2022, the government’s focus on digitization of the economy is likely to gather momentum with the proposal to launch a digital currency, e-bill systems, e-passports and national health digital health ecosystem.
