Union Budget 2021: Senior citizens above 75 with pension and interest income exempted from filing I-T returns

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with her staff in New Delhi. Pic/AFP

India's first Budget post the onset of COVID-19 pandemic will be presented to Parliament on Monday. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday moved for the House to present her third and most significant Finance Bill.

The Budget comes at a time when India has been battling with the coronavirus pandemic and the economy is reeling under the after effects of the lockdown.

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• The fiscal deficit in 2021-22 is estimated to be 6.8% of the GDP: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
• Govt proposes to make income tax appellate tribunals faceless; to set up national income tax appellate tribunal centre: FM.
• Serious tax offences of concealment of income of over Rs 50 lakh can be reopened after 10 years, says Sitharaman
  
• Propose to reduce the time limit for reopening of tax assessments to 3 years from the present 6 years: FM
• Exemption from income tax return for those above 75 years of age with only pension and interest income: Nirmala Sitharaman
• 1.18 lakh crore revenue deficit grant to 17 states: Nirmala Sitharaman
• Agriculture infrastructure fund would be made available to APMCs to augment infrastructure facilities: Finance Minister
• One nation, one ration card plan under implementation in 32 states, 1 UT: FM.
• Govt proposes portal to collect info on gig-workers, building and construction workers, among others, says Sitharaman.
• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earmarks Rs 1,500 crore for promoting digital mode of payment
• Agri procurement has increased steadily, benefiting farmers, says FM amid opposition slogan shouting against three farm laws.
• Govt committed to welfare of farmers, says FM Sitharaman. Around 16.5 lakh crore agricultural credit target
• LIC IPO will be brought in FY22: FM.
• Ujjwala scheme will be extended to cover 1 crore more beneficiaries, gas pipeline project for Jammu and Kashmir
• Insurance Act to be amended to increase FDI limit to 74 per cent from 49 per cent, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
• The pneumococcal vaccine, limited to only 5 states at present, to be rolled out across the country, says FM

• Government to provide Rs 2 lakh crore to states and autonomous bodies to meet capital expenditure: Sitharaman
• 8,500 kms of road, highway projects to be awarded by March 2022 to further augment road infrastructure: FM Sitharaman
• Record Rs 1,10,055 crore provided for railways, of which Rs 1,07,100 cr for capital expenditure in 2021-22: FM.
• FM proposes sharp increase in capital expenditure for next fiscal at Rs 5.54 lakh cr, up from Rs 4.39 lakh cr of last year.
• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Centre has provided Rs 35,000 Crore For COVID-19 vaccination. "Only three times has the Budget followed a contraction in the economy This time, unlike before, the situation is due to a global pandemic Budget 2021 provides every opportunity for economy to capture pace and grow sustainably," she said.
• "A new centrally funded scheme, #PMSwasthyaYojana, with an outlay of Rs 64,180 cr will be launched in addition to the existing schemes to develop primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare," says Finance Minister.
• This Budget 2021 will also be a digital budget: Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman.

• The government stretched its resources for the benefit of the poorest of the poor. The PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, three Aatma Nirbhar Bharat packages and subsequent announcements were made like five mini-budgets in themselves, says the Finance Minister.

• Today, India has 2 vaccines available and has begun safeguarding not only its own citizens against COVID-19 but also those of 100 or more countries. It has added comfort to know that 2 more vaccines are also expected soon, says Sitharaman.

• Sitharaman said India could have never imagined the health crisis that was about to unfold when she presented budget for 2020. "The total impact of Atmanirbhar Bharat and measures by RBI was Rs 27.1 lakh crore, which amounts to 30 per cent of GDP," Sitharaman said.

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says the global economy was already in throes of a slowdown in 2020 and could have never imagined the health crisis that was about to unfold when we presented the budget for 2020.

• Budget session begins in Parliament

• Union Cabinet approves Budget 2021-22

The Budget is in a series of three-four mini Budgets presented during last year considering the pandemic. Breaking the tradition, this year's Budget will be unique as it will be paperless.

At the beginning of the joint session of Parliament on Friday, Modi had also said that the Finance Minister had already announced 3-4 mini budgets and that the 2021-22 Budget would be a historic.

Sitharaman had then asserted that this year's Budget will "be a Budget like never before."

Usually, the duration of the presentation ranges from 90 to 120 minutes. This year, the Union Budget will be delivered in paperless form for the first time.

Finance Minister had launched the "Union Budget Mobile App" for hassle-free access of Budget documents by Members of Parliament (MPs) and the general public using the simplest form of digital convenience, according to the Finance Ministry.

The App facilitates complete access to 14 Union Budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement (commonly known as Budget), Demand for Grants (DG), and Finance Bill as prescribed by the Constitution.

Ahead of the Budget, Sitharaman had tabled the Economic Survey in Parliament on Friday. The Indian economy can contract by 7.7 per cent in the current financial year ending on March 31 and the growth could be 11 per cent in the next financial year, according to the survey.

The contraction in FY21 is mainly due to the coronavirus pandemic and the visible damage caused by the subsequent countrywide lockdown to contain it.

The survey unveiled two days before the Union Budget is broadly in line with forecasts by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which has said it expected the country's GDP to contract by 7.5 per cent in the year ending March 31.

In the quarter ending June 2020, the GDP contracted by 23.9 per cent followed by a milder contraction of 7.5 per cent in the quarter ended September 2020.

The first part of the Budget Session of Parliament will end on February 13 instead of February 15 as the Rajya Sabha has decided to change its sitting, sources said. The second part of the session will be held from March 8 to April 8.

Rajya Sabha will function from 9 am to 2 pm and Lok Sabha from 4 pm to 9 pm with Zero Hour and Question Hour. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Saturday that the budget session will take up 38 legislative items.

(With inputs from agency)