Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed to increase excise duty and cess on petrol and diesel while presenting the Union Budget 2019 on Friday, July 5.
In her budget speech, Sitharaman has proposed to increase the Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED) as well as Road and Infrastructure Cess by Re 1 per litre on automobile fuels. The customs duty on gold has also been increased from the existing 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent.
The previous Union Budget of 2018-2019 had cut basic excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre. But this did not result in any reduction in the fuel prices for consumers as the cut in duty had been offset by an additional levy of Rs 8 per litre under Levy of Road and Infrastructure Cess on petrol as well as diesel, reports Economic Times.
Petrol and diesel prices remain unchanged across the country for the third consecutive day on Friday. Price of one litre of petrol today stood at Rs 70.51 while diesel costs Rs 64.33 per litre in the national capital, adds the report.
The income tax has been increased by 3 per cent for those earning between Rs 2-5 crore. For people having income above Rs 5 crore, the tax has been increased to 7 per cent.
For the establishments having an annual turnover of more than Rs 50 crore, there will be no merchant discount rate (MDR) charges on a digital transaction, said the minister.
The finance minister also said that TDS (tax deducted at source) of 2 per cent on cash withdrawal exceeding Rs 1 crore in a year from a bank account to discourage cash transactions for business deals
