Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today presented the Union Budget 2020, bringing major relief to individual taxpayers by slashing tax rates. A large number of items, including cigarettes, tobacco products, medical equipment will become more expensive due to a hike in taxes. At the same time, items such as raw sugar, agro-animal based products, Tuna bait, skimmed milk, certain alcoholic beverages, soya fibre will become cheaper. Here’s a look at the things that are set to become costly and those whose prices will see a drop
Costly
-FM raises excise duty on cigarettes, tobacco products.
-Customs duty on imported footwear and furniture increased. -Health cess on import of medical equipment.
-Customs duty on wall fans increased from 7.5% to 20%.
-Customs duty on tableware/kitchenware made of porcelain or China ceramic, clay iron, steel, copper doubled to 20%.
Cheap
-FM halves custom duty on import of newsprint, lightweight coated paper to 5%.
-Anti-dumping duty on purified terephthalic acid (PTA) abolished.
-Customs duty exemption on raw sugar, agro-animal based products, Tuna bait, skimmed milk, certain alcoholic beverages, soya fibre, soya protein is withdrawn.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said this budget was aimed at boosting incomes and enhancing purchasing power, stressing that the economy’s fundamentals were strong and inflation was well contained.
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