log on to thegoan.net @thegoaneveryday Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday The Goan (Playstore) Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday BUDGET 23-24 SEE PAGES 3 & 4 THURSDAY FEBRUARY 2, 2023 EDUCATION >> 12 pages PRICE ` 8 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME VIII, NO.225 ENVIRONMENT >> RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 DIGITAL INDIA >> WOMEN >> ‘Mahila Samman 157 nursing collegGreen Hydrogen DigiLocker for use Saving Certificate’ es to be set up Mission for reby businesses, introduced duced dependence charitable trusts Institutes of Exon fossil fuel Available for two cellence for mass 100 labs to develop years, interest rate @ 7.5% teacher training New ‘green credit’ prog under apps using 5G services in engg institutions Maximum limit to be Rs 2 lakh National digital library for children Environment Protection Act EMPLOYMENT >> Push in tourism sector to create jobs for youth Green growth efforts for large-scale green job opportunities PAN FOR BIZ >> PAN to be used as a common identifier for all Digital Systems of specified government agencies | SOCIAL WELFARE >> 30 ‘Skill India’ centres to be set up for young people | AGRI/FARMERS >> 1 crore farmers to get aid to adopt natural farming | MGNREGA >> Government slashes allocation, sharpest decline in last four years FM poll vaults with tax bonanza BIG RELIEF FOR TAX PAYERS >> I-T EXEMPTION HIKED TO `7 LAKH, NEW REGIME IS DEFAULT CAPITAL EXPENDITURE TARGET RAISED BY 33 PER CENT TO `10 LAKH CRORE HIGHEST-EVER OUTLAY FOR INDIAN RAILWAYS @ `2.40 LAKH CRORE `5,300 CR TO KARNATAKA FOR MICRO-IRRIGATION & DRINKING WATER PROJECTS PTI NEW DELHI In Modi government’s last full Budget before general elections, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday unveiled tax rebates and saving plans to woo the middle class, women and pensioners, and announced massive spending on housing and infrastructure as she walked the tightrope between staying fiscally prudent and meeting public expectations. The personal income tax rebate limit has been increased to Rs 7 lakh from the fiscal year starting April 1 under the new tax regime, from the previous Rs 5 lakh. Tax slabs have been cut to five from seven earlier. Also, the maximum income tax rate has been reduced to about 39 per cent from 42.7 per cent after a reduction in the highest surcharge to 25 per cent from 37 per cent. Besides, the deposit limit for senior citizen savings schemes has been doubled to Rs 30 lakh and for Monthly Income Account Scheme to Rs 9 lakh. A new small savings scheme for women, offering 7.5 per cent interest rate on deposits of up to Rs 2 lakh for a tenor of 2 years, has also been announced. TAKING AIM: AMRIT KAAL INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT INFRASTRUCTURE & INVESTMENT REACHING THE LAST MILE UNLEASHING THE POTENTIAL GREEN GROWTH YOUTH POWER FINANCIAL SECTOR But the Budget has capped tax exemption on maturity amount for policies exceeding Rs 5 lakh annual premium. Maturity proceeds of all life insurance policies (other than unit-linked insurance policies or ULIPs) that are issued after April 1, 2023, and have an annual premium of more than Rs 5 lakh, will now be taxable. Sitharaman’s fifth straight Budget comes at a time when the economy is slowing due to global headwinds and there is a need for increased spending on social sectors as well as ramping up incentives for local manufacturing. She also announced customs duty relief on mobile phone components, as well as on capital goods for lithium batteries and other such items to boost green energy and exports. This is the final full Budget before the general elections in April/May next year. An interim budget, called vote on account, is to be presented in February next year and the new government will present the full Budget sometime in July 2024. For 2023-24, the capital investment outlay has been increased steeply for the third year in a row by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore, which would be 3.3 per cent of the GDP. This will be almost three times the outlay in 2019-20. Also, the outlay for affordable housing has been increased by a massive 66 per cent to Rs 79,000 crore. “This is a Budget which has beautifully balanced both growth considerations because the capital investment has never before seen double digit investment announcements of Rs 10 lakh crore which includes Rs 1.3 lakh crore being given to states,” Sitharaman said at a postBudget press conference. Since coming to power in 2014, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has ramped up capital spending, including on roads and energy, while wooing investors through lower tax rates and labour reforms, and offering subsidies to poor >Continued on P8 Irrigation allocation to K’taka Budget: What’s in it for Goa deepens Goa’s ‘Mhadei’ worry THE GOAN I NETWORK THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The special allocations in the Union budget for poll-bound Karnataka specifically for irrigation and drinking water works has deepened concerns in Goa over the vexed dispute over the neighbouring State’s plans to divert waters of the Mhadei river. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced a Rs 5,300 crore outlay for the Upper Bhadra Irrigation Project, which is meant to benefit the drought-prone areas of Central Karnataka. Although Karnataka may not be able to divert these funds for the Kalasa-Bhandura project on the Mhadei river it is expected to give the State financial flexibility and make it easier to provide funds to execute Mhadei water diversion plans. After the announcement, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the finance minister for the allocation. Concerns in the context of the Mhadei dispute in relation to the special allocation of the Rs 5,000-plus crore funds for irrigation and drinking water to Karnataka was raised by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Benaulim legislator Venzy Viegas, who is a member of the House Committee set up by the Goa legislative assembly to go into the river dispute. “It will be a death-knell for Mhadei and Goa,” Viegas said in a reaction he posted on the micro-blogging site Twitter. Viegas said, although the allocation may not be for the >Continued on P8 PANAJI Goa may not have found specific mention in the speech of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman but some key new proposals she announced could benefit the State, specially the tourism sector. She has announced developing of 50 destinations as part of a “complete package of tourism” which will be selected through challenge mode using an integrated and innovative approach. Goa, seen as a high-visibility tourist destination, could have a few sites picked as part of these 50 destinations. For these selected 50 des- tinations, Sitharaman said information on physical connectivity, virtual connectivity, tourist guides, food streets and tourist security and other relevant aspects of visitor experience would be made available through an app. “There is a large potential to be tapped in tourism. The sector holds huge opportunities for jobs and entrepreneurship for youth in particular,” she said. PLANS FOR COASTAL STATES The budget has a proposal for mangrove plantations to be taken up along the coastline apart from salt pans, wherever feasible. Thief in advocate’s disguise steals cash, gold from court THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI ourt proceedings in the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) had to be deferred when the staff noticed that cupboards in the evidence room were broken and muddemal property -- sealed envelopes containing cash and gold -- went missing. The theft reported on Wednesday morning, triggered panic as lawyers and litigants inquired if evidence pertaining to their respective cases were safe. The suspected thief has been identified through CCTV footage even as he is yet to be traced to face penal action. “We are working on certain clues to trace the whereabouts C TIMELINE: HOW IT HAPPENED „„Tuesday 5 pm: Unknown man, dressed as a lawyer and carrying a shoulder bag, enters the Court building „„5:30 pm: Court proceedings end for the day „„Around 6 pm: Guard locks the doors without checking if anyone is left behind „„Wednesday: 8:30- 9am: Court staff arrives on duty only to find the evidence room ransacked, door and cupboards broken and evidence stolen „„Panaji police called informing about the incident „„CJM lodges police complaint, hearings adjourned „„Investigation team, fingerprint experts and dog squad arrive at crime scene „„Police find envelopes containing cash and gold stolen, demonetised notes kept back, big bundles of muddemal not touched „„Accused identified on security cameras „„Police suspect accused conducted a recce of the Court before striking the evidence area or he is in the know of the entire functioning of the Court of the accused and arrest him. Statements of all the concerned persons are also being recorded,” Superintendent of Police (North Goa) Nidhin Valsan told The Goan. With the incident indicating that thieves are openly chal- lenging security around the Court premises, police suspect the unknown accused could have targeted the evidence Record books being checked to ascertain what has been stolen and pertaining to which case including names of accused involved in it room to wipe out evidence of selective cases. “It is a case of theft where cash and gold are missing, as per the investigation so far. But, we also cannot rule out the possibility that the accused or someone else, for whom he might be operating, could be involved in crime and the theft was to wipe out evidence. The investigation is >Continued on P8 Goa could benefit from this proposal which Sitharaman has mooted through the convergence of MGNREGS, the Compensatory Afforestation Fund and other funding schemes. Another proposal that Goa can hope to get benefits in the budget is the afforestation scheme MISHTI -- Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes.’ It is meant for mangrove plantation along coastlines and on salt pan lands wherever feasible, Sitharaman said. A scheme for wetlands -Amrit Dharohar -- meant to help local communities to >Continued on P8 ON PAGES 2&3 Budget balanced, likely to boost demand in housing sector: Realty industry Slew of tax relief to cooperative sector Govt lowers FY’23 disinvestment target to Rs 50K cr; pegs FY’24 target at Rs 51K cr ‘Saab ka Sath’ budget, says CM but Opposition leaders pick holes Goa’s industry captains bullish on Budget KEY TAKEAWAYS ON TAX STRUCTURE „„No changes in the old tax regime „„New tax regime to become default tax regime, but citizens can opt for old tax regime „„No tax on income up to Rs 7.5 lakh a year in new tax regime (with inclusion of standard deduction) „„Individual with annual income of Rs 9 lakh will have to pay only Rs 45,000 in taxes „„Income of Rs 15 lakh will fetch Rs 1.5 lakh tax, down from Rs 1.87 lakh LEAVE ENCASHMENT The limit of Rs 3 lakh for tax exemption on leave encashment on retirement of non-govt salaried employees has been increased to Rs 25 lakh „„A Rs 50,000 standard deduction to taxpayers introduced under new regime THE NEW TAX RATES OLD TAX SLABS Rs 0-3 lakh.....................Nil Rs 3-6 lakh....................5% Rs 6-9 lakh..................10% Rs 9-12 lakh................. 15% Rs 12-15 lakh...............20% Above Rs 15 lakh.........30% Up to Rs 2.5 lakh................. Nil Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh....... 5% Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh......20% Above Rs 10 lakh..............30% The old tax regime allowed each tax assessee to claim seven to ten exemptions HOW THE NEW TAX REGIME WILL LEAD TO MORE SAVINGS If your salary is Rs 7 lakh a year, then you don’t have to pay any tax. Earlier, the rebate was for Rs 5 lakh If salary is Rs 9 lakh a year it will be taxed by compartmenting the amount into slabs as follows: Eg: A) From 0-3 lakh: No tax (earlier, it was 0-2.5 lakh) Balance: Rs 6 lakh to be taxed under two slabs i.e Rs 3-6 lakh portion at 5% and Rs 6-9 lakh portion at 10% B) Rs 3 lakh taxed at 5%: Rs 15,000 Balance: Rs 3 lakh to be taxed under one slab i.e Rs 6-9 lakh portion at 10% C) Rs 3 lakh taxed at 10%: Rs 30,000 Total tax on Rs 9 lakh (sum of A, B and C): Rs 45,000 However, if tax on this Rs 9 lakh was calculated using the old slabs (0-Rs 2.5 lakh exempted and Rs 5 lakh rebate), you would need to pay at least Rs 60,000, which means the new slabs lead to savings of some 25% BONANZA FOR SENIORS „„Max limit under Senior Citizen Savings Scheme doubled to Rs 30 lakh from Rs 15 lakh „„Investment limit under Post Office Monthly Income Scheme raised to Rs 9 lakh from Rs 4.5 lakh „„In case of joint accounts in POMIS, investment limit hiked to Rs 15 lakh from Rs 9 lakh TAX BOOSTER „„Payment received from Agniveer Corpus Fund by Agniveers to be exempted „„Tax exemption removed in insurance policies with premium over Rs 5 lakh „„For online games, TDS and taxability on net winnings at the time of withdrawal or at the end of fiscal „„Higher limit of Rs 3 cr for TDS on cash withdrawal to be provided to co-operative societies „„Next-gen Common IT Return Form to be rolled out for tax payer convenience „„Grievance redressal mechanism to be strengthened „„TDS rate to be reduced from 30% to 20% on taxable portion of EPF withdrawal in non-PAN cases