Budget 2023: From tax relief to defence budget hiked by 13 pc, here are some key announcements

Nirmala Sitharaman announced no tax for those with an annual income of up to Rs 7 lakh under the new tax regime but made no changes for those who continue in the old regime

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday presented the Budget 2023 in Lok Sabha. 

She announced no tax for those with an annual income of up to Rs 7 lakh under the new tax regime but made no changes for those who continue in the old regime. 

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced an increase in the income tax rebate limit from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh stating that the new tax regime will now be the default tax regime.

The Finance Minister also proposed to change the tax structure in this regime by reducing the number of tax slabs to 5 and increasing the tax exemption limit to Rs 3 lakh.

Also Read: Budget 2023: Clothes get costlier, mobile phones cheaper; here's the complete list of products

Here are some of the key announcements of Budget 2023:

• Looking to acquire major weapon systems including fighter aircraft, submarines and tanks, the defence services today got a hike of around 13 per cent in their budget for 2023-24 as Rs 5.94 lakh crore were allocated to them, up from the Rs 5.25 lakh crore given last year
• The modernisation budget has also been hiked from Rs 1.52 lakh crore last fiscal to Rs 1.62 lakh crore this fiscal. A significant portion of the modernisation budget would be for the acquisition of weapon systems and equipment from Indian firms under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make in India programme
• Government proposed to make new tax structure as default tax option
• Income tax- rebate extended on income up to Rs 7 lakhs in new tax regime
• Proposes to cut highest surcharge rate to 25 per cent from 37.5 per cent under new income tax regime
• The new tax rates are 0 to Rs 3 lakhs - nil, Rs 3 to 6 lakhs - 5 per cent, Rs 6 to 9 Lakhs - 10 per cent, Rs 9 to 12 Lakhs - 15 per cent, Rs 12 to 15 Lakhs - 20 per cent and above 15 Lakhs - 30 per cent
• To consider a cut in customs duty on lab-grown diamonds
• Custom duty exemption extended to EV batteries
• Taxes on cigarettes hiked by 16 per cent
• Nominal GDP for 2023-24, which includes real GDP and inflation, estimated to grow 10.5% year-on-year to 301.75 trillion rupees ($3.69 trillion) in 2023-24
• India's federal government will target a budget deficit of 5.9% of GDP for 2023-24 compared to 6.4% for the current fiscal year
• Aims to achieve fiscal deficit of 4.5 per cent of GDP by 2025-26
• India is expecting 6-6.8 per cent economic growth in 2023-24, slightly lower than the 7 per cent expected in the current fiscal year

(With inputs from PTI)

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