In a bid to promote entrepreneurship in India, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that funds raised by startups will not face any scrutiny by the income tax department.
A mechanism will be set up for the verification of investors and companies. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) will set up the mechanism to alleviate issues with pending cases regarding angel tax. Startups and investors who file information in returns will not have to go through scrutiny and a mechanism of e-verification is set to be introduced.
India's first full-time woman finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her maiden union budget at 11 am on July 5. Sitharaman reached the Parliament an hour ahead of time with the budget document folded in a red traditional cloth or 'bahi khaata' sealed with the government seal. Chief Economic Advisor K Subramanian said that it was a departure from "slavery of western tradition". The red cloth symbolises the 'bahi khaata' traditionally used in every Indian business set up to maintain accounts.
Analysts and the media had predicted that her first budget will be focused on the middle class and the poor and that it will take the SoPs presented in the interim budget by Piyush Goyal in February further. Sitharaman has to deal with income tax exemption slabs, unemployment and form a pro-janta budget with the added task of pulling the country out of a five year low. With former Education Minister Prakash Javadekar promising that the government will try its best to spend 6 per cent of the GDP on education and the PM stressing on the youth development and innovation, eyes are on Sitharaman's budget to bring the change.
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