2015 Union budget of India

2015 Union budget of India refers to 2015-2016 Union

budget of India. The beginning of the budget printing began on 19 February 2015 with the traditional halwa ceremony. From 20 February until the presentation of budget about 100 government employees remained locked
up in the North Block of the Secretariat Building, New
Delhi, which houses the budget printing press, to maintain secrecy.[1] The budget was presented on 28 February
by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.[2][3]

1
1.1
1.1.1

1.1.2 Corporate tax

It was announced that corporate tax rate will be gradually reduced from 30% to 25% over the period of
4 years, starting in April 2016. 2% surcharge was
introduced on earnings above 10 crores. However,
it was also announced that exemptions and incentives
will also be removed.[11] It was announced that donations made to Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Clean Ganga
plan under corporate social responsibility will get 100%
deduction.[12] The General Anti-Avoidance Rule was delayed by two years.[13] Yoga trusts were classied as
charitable trusts and given tax benets.[14]

Summary
Taxation

1.1.3 Service tax

Personal income tax

The service tax rate was raised from 12.36% to 14%.[15]

A Swachh Bharat cess was announced, under which 2%
See also: Income Tax In India
will be added on select services.[16] The service tax exThere was no change in income tax slabs of individuals.[4] emption given to mutual fund agents was withdrawn.[17]
The wealth tax was abolished. The surcharge on individ- Lottery ticket sellers and chit fund agents were brought
uals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUF), associations of under the ambit of service tax.[18][19] Varishta Bima Yopersons (AOPs), bodies of individuals (BOI)s, articial jana for senior citizens was exempt from service tax.[7]
juridical persons, rms, cooperative societies and local
authorities having income earning 1 crore or more, was Pre-cooling, ripening, retail packing and labelling of
vegetables and fruits were exempted from service tax.
raised from 10% to 12%.[5][6]
Ambulance services were exempted from service tax.
The permitted deduction limit was raised up to 25,000 Visits to music concerts, amusement and theme parks
towards health insurance for ordinary citizens, an in- were brought under the ambit of service tax. Visits to
crease from previous 15,000. For senior citizens, it was museums, zoos, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and
raised to 30,000 from previous 20,000. For very se- tiger reserves were exempted service tax.[20]
nior citizens, i.e. 80 or above, who don't have insurance,
a deduction of 30,000 was allowed. A deduction up to Social security
80,000 was allowed on the treatment of select very se- Salaried employees were given the choice between
rious diseases for very senior citizens. A deduction up to Employees Provident Fund and National Pension
25,000 was allowed for dierently-abled citizens.[7]
Scheme as their pension fund.[8] Two new insurance
An additional 50,000 was permitted on the new pen- schemes and a pension fund were announced to improve
sion scheme. Salaried employees were given the choice the social security of the poor citizens. Pradhan Mantri
between Employees Provident Fund and National Pen- Suraksha Bima Yojana with an annual premium of 12
sion Scheme as their pension fund.[7][8] Investments in will provide a coverage of 2 lakh for full disability or
Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme and interest payouts were death, and 1 lakh for partial disability. Pradhan Mantri
made eligible for deductions. Exemptions for transport Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana is a life insurance scheme
allowances was raised from 800 to 1,600 per month, with an annual premium of 330, it will pay 2 lakh in
is a pension scheme
it is thus 19,200 per year. This exemption is usually case of death. Atal Pension Yojana
[21]
targeted
at
the
unorganised
sector.
given to individual salaried employees for commuting
from home to workplace.[9][7]
It was announced that premature withdrawal from pen- 1.2 Excise
sion funds, if service period is less than 5 years, will result in deduction of tax at source. If withdrawal amount The education cess were subsumed from central excise
is more than 30,000 then 10% tax will be deducted.[10] duty. Instead, the central excise duty rates were rounded
1

1 SUMMARY

o from 12.36% to 12.5%.[22] The clean energy cess was

increased from 100 to 200 per tonne of coal.[23] It was
announced that the Goods and Services Tax is expected
to be implemented by 1 April 2016.[24]

The education budget was allocated 69,074 crore for

the year 2015-16. This was a reduction from the revised estimates from 2014-15 which was 70,505 crore.
The school education sector was allocated 42,219.50
crore
and higher education sector was allocated 26,855
The excise duty on cigarettes was increased by 25%. The
[30]
crore.
excise on cut tobacco was raised from 60 to 70 per
kg. The duty on plastic bags was increased from 12% to
18%. The duty on soft drinks and packaged water was 1.5 Investments
increased from 12% to 18%. On cement, it increased
from 900 per tonne to 1,000 per tonne. The duty A proposed Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Bill,
was removed from compounds used in the manufacture which would criminalise cash transactions of 20,000
of incense sticks.[20]
or above for purchase of immovable properties, was anExcise duty on leather footwear was reduced from 12%
to 6%. The duty on locally manufactured mobile phones,
LED/LCD panels, LED lights and lamps was reduced.
The duty on ambulance chassis reduced from 24% to
12.5%.[20]

1.3

Custom duty

22 components used in electronics sector were exempted

from import duty.[25] Basic custom duty on magnetrons
were removed. Import duty on various refrigerator components were removed. Import duty on solar water
heaters was removed. Some pacemaker components were
exempted.[20] Duty on imported commercial vehicle was
increased from 10% to 40%.[26]

nounced. Permanent Account Number (PAN) was made

mandatory for transactions above 1 lakh.[31] Three new
gold deposit schemes were announced to reduce import
of gold and monetise the gold held by citizens.[32] A
gold coin with the Ashoka Chakra on the face will be
created.[33] The listing of Real Estate Investment Trusts
(REITs) was made easier.[34] It was announced that foreign investments will be allowed in Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), which are pooled investments in real
estate, private equity and hedge funds.[35] A simpler
bankruptcy law would be created.[36] The SARFAESI Act
will be expanded to cover non-banking nancial institutions (NBFC) which will make it easier for them to recover non-performing assets (NPA).[37]

1.6 Other announcements

The states of Bihar and West Bengal were given special

assistance packages from the centre.[38] A startup incubaA scheme called Nayi Manzil was announced which will tor programme called Self Employment and Talent Utilhelp minority youth without school-leaving certicate to isation (SETU) was announced. It was allocated 1,000
[39]
nd employment.[27] Five new All India Institutes of crore.
Medical Sciences (AIIMS) were announced for Jammu
and Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh
and Assam. The setting up of second AIIMS like institu- 1.7 Revenues and expenditures
tion in Bihar was announced in 2015 Union budget.[28]
An Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) will set up in The Plan Expenditure for 2014-15 was revised from
Karnataka and the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad will 5,75,000 crore to 4,67,934 crore due to a large
be upgraded to an IIT. Two new Indian Institutes of Man- decit. The Plan Expenditure for 2015-16 was set at
agement (IIM) announced for Jammu and Kashmir and 4,65,277 crore. The Non-Plan Expenditure was estimated at 13,12,200 crore, with the total being estimated
Andhra Pradesh.[29]
at 17,77,477 crore.[40]
A new Post Graduate Institute of Horticulture Research
and Education was announced for Amritsar. Three new The government expects 14,49,490 crore as tax reNational Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Re- ceipts, of which 5,23,958 crore will go to state govreceipts were estimated at 2,21,733
search were announced for Maharashtra, Rajasthan and ernments. Non-tax[41]
crore
for
2015-16.
Chhattisgarh. Two new Institutes of Science and Education Research were announced for Nagaland and Odisha. The defence budget was increased from 2.29 lakh crore
Two new institutes called Apprenticeship Training In- in 2014-15 to 2.46 lakh crore in 2015-16, an increase
stitute for Women were announced for Haryana and of 10.95%.[42] The expenditure on healthcare was set at
Uttarakhand.[29]
33,152 crore for 2015-16, a reduction from 39,238
[43]
bonds were
A networked system called the Student Financial Aid Au- crore in 2014-15. Tax-free infrastructure
[44]
re-introduced
after
a
gap
of
one
year.
thority was announced which would monitor the alloca-

1.4

Education

tion of scholarships and educational loans under the Prad- The scal decit for 2014-15 was 4.1% of the GDP. The
target set for 2015-16 was that the scal decit would
han Mantri Vidya Lakshmi Karyakram.[29]

3
be brought down to 3.9%. The revenue decit target for
2015-16 was set at 2.8% of the GDP, 0.1% lower from
2014-15.[45]

Responses

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of BJP political party

called the budget progressive and positive. Home Minister Rajnath Singh of BJP called the budget an important step towards building a modern India. BJP President
Amit Shah praised the anti-black money measures.[46]

[5] Budget 2015: Tax hike for Super Rich. Zee News. 28
February 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
[6] Budget 2015: Curtains on wealth tax, extra 2% surcharge
on super-rich. Hindustan Times. 1 March 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
[7] Budget 2015: Tax exemptions for middle class. Zee
News. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
[8] Budget 2015: EPF or NPS, employees get more choice.
Live Mint. 28 February 2015.
[9] Transport allowance to be tax-free for up to Rs 1,600
per month. Hindustan Times. 1 March 2015. Retrieved
4 March 2015.

Mallikarjun Kharge of INC political party called the budget pro-industrialist. Former Finance Minister P. Chi[10] Arun Jaitley makes big push towards social security redambaram of INC said the budget appeases taxpayers and
forms in Budget 2015. Business Today. 2 March 2015.
corporates but ignores the poor. Former Prime Minister
Retrieved 5 March 2015.
Manmohan Singh of INC said that the budget had good
[11] India to cut corporate tax to 25% over four years. Redi.
intentions but lacked a proper road map.[46]
28 February 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.

Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar, thanked the Finance Minister for the special assistance package and the [12] Budget: Tax sops likely for investments in Swachh
Bharat, Clean Ganga. Zee News. 17 February 2014. Renew AIIMS in Bihar.[47] Tarun Gogoi, Chief Minister of
trieved 4 March 2015.
Assam, called the budget pro-rich and pro-corporate and
criticised it for the lack of benets for North East In[13] Budget 2015: Wealth tax abolished; applicability of
dia.[48] Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha, called
GAAR deferred by two years. The Economic Times. 28
the budget disappointing as it lacked as special packages
February 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
for Odisha, pointing that West Bengal and Bihar were
granted special packages but Odisha was ignored despite [14] Budget 2015 - Baba ray: Yoga gurus can now exhale.
The Times of India. 1 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March
facing two natural disasters in the near past Phailin and
2015.
Hudhud.[49]
Indian stock index SENSEX gained 140 points on the [15] Budget 2015: Service tax hike likely to hit overall consumption. The Economic Times. 2 March 2015. Reday of budget announcement.[50] Kishore Biyani, CEO of
trieved 4 March 2015.
Future Group, said new service tax rate may discourage
consumption.[51]
[16] Swachh Bharat Cess not on all services: Centre. Deccan
Herald. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.

See also
Union budget of India
2015 Railway Budget of India

References

[1] "Halwa ceremony marks beginning of budget printing

process. The Hindu Business Line. 19 February 2015.
Retrieved 19 February 2015.
[2] India budget to boost investment. BBC News. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.

[17] Service tax exemption to MF agents withdrawn. The

Times of India. 4 March 2015.
[18] Budget 2015: Now chit fund foremen to pay service tax.
The Economic Times. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 5
March 2015.
[19] Lottery sellers now under service tax ambit. The Hindu.
1 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
[20] Union Budget 2015-16: Smoking, eating out, air travel
to be costlier. The Hindu. 28 February 2015. Retrieved
5 March 2015.
[21] Govt announces details of new insurance, pension
schemes. Business Line. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 4
March 2015.

[3] Key Features of Budget 2015-2016 (PDF). Government

of India. Retrieved 4 March 2015.

[22] Budget 2015: Moving on GST; education cess to be subsumed in central excise, says government. The Economic
Times. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.

[4] Budget 2015 Overview: No change in rate of personal

tax; mediclaim, pension exemption limits hiked. Zee
News. 1 March 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.

[23] Budget 2015 lukewarm to the green energy sector.

Forbes India. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 5 March
2015.

5 FURTHER READING

[24] Budget 2015: Implementation of GST on April 2016, a

reality or mirage?". The Economic Times. 28 February
2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.

[43] Budget 2015: 5 more AIIMS, tax exemption limit in

health care premium increased. DNA India. 1 March
2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.

[25] For Make in India: No basic custom duty on 22 items.

Hindustan Times. 1 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March
2015.

[44] Comeback kings: Arun Jaitley ushers in tax-free infra

bonds again. The Financial Express (India). 4 March
2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.

[26] Union Budget 2015: Customs duty on commercial vehicles raised to 40% from 10%". Moneycontrol. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.

[45] C. Rangarajan (1 March 2015). Many hits in Budget,

but xing scal decit is a miss. The Times of India.
Retrieved 4 March 2015.

[27] Nayi Manzil is a step in right direction. The Times of

India. 1 March 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.

[46] Union Budget 2015 reactions: BJP lauds Jaitleys 'clear

vision', Congress terms it 'dhanwapsi' to corporates. Zee
News. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.

[28] Budget 2015: More AIIMS, IIT and IIMs, Announces

Finance Minister Jaitley.
[29] Over 2 per cent cut in education budget; new IITs, IIMs
to be set up. The Economic Times. 1 March 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
[30] Budget 2015: Focus shifts to higher education. Live
Mint. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
[31] Benami property bill soon, PAN needed for over Rs 1
lakh purchase. Zee News. 28 February 2015. Retrieved
4 March 2015.
[32] Budget 2015: India to introduce gold deposit accounts,
no mention of import duty. The Economic Times. 28
February 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
[33] Ashoka Chakra gold coin soon. The Hindu. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
[34] Union Budget 2015: REITs listing set to become easy,
with smoother investor exits. The Economic Times. 28
February 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.

[47] Budget 2015: Nitish Kumar thanks Centre for special

nancial assistance, AIIMS. The Economic Times. 28
February 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
[48] Union Budget 2015 pro-rich, pro-corporate, nothing for
Assam and North-East: Tarun Gogoi. The Economic
Times. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
[49] Odisha ignored in budget, says Naveen Patnaik. The
Hindu. 1 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
[50] Budget: Sensex Ends 140 Points Higher; Nifty Above
8,900. NDTV. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 5 March
2015.
[51] Budget 2015: Middle-class consumers feel the pinch as
FM Arun Jaitley raises duties and service tax. The Economic Times. 1 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.

5 Further reading

[35] De-jargoned: Alternative investment funds. Live Mint.

4 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.

Key Features of Budget 2015-2016 (PDF).

Government of India.

[36] Budget 2015: A comprehensive bankruptcy code like US

style Chapter 11. The Economic Times. 1 March 2015.
Retrieved 5 March 2015.

How to invest in Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima

Yojana.| KasaKaru website

[37] SARFAESI Act to cover NBFCs. The Hindu. 1 March

2015. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
[38] Budget 2015s poll pitch: Special assistance for Bihar,
West Bengal. India Today. 28 February 2015. Retrieved
5 March 2015.
[39] Budget 2015: Rs. 1,000-Crore Fund Announced for
Tech Startups, Entrepreneurs. NDTV. 28 February 2015.
Retrieved 5 March 2015.
[40] Budget cuts Plan spending for current scal by Rs 1 lakh
crore. DNA India. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 4 March
2015.
[41] Budget 2015 At a glance (Revenues)" (PDF).
Government of India. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 18
June 2015.
[42] Indian defence budget hike will create new edge of tension: Pakistani media. The Economic Times. 2 March
2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.

How to apply for Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima

Yojana accident insurance scheme?".| KasaKaru
website

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