Priti Rathi Gupta, Founder, LXME

The focus of this year’s Union Budget was to sustain the economic growth that we have witnessed after the Covid-19 outbreak and to enhance it moving forward. All the amendments and proposals were made keeping in mind the growth of all the sectors of the country where digitalisation acted as a key engine for economic growth. Hefty funds have been allocated for driving these projects at a large scale. Tax deduction limit increased from 10% to 14% on employers contribution to NPS account of state govt employees. This will create a level playing field for the government employees and strengthen the social security benefits.

As the union government hinted earlier to bring cryptocurrencies under the tax net, the government has imposed a 30% tax rate on the transfer of virtual digital assets, regardless of the holding period.  There would be no tax relief available to offset the loss of the virtual digital asset against any other income. Gift of cryptocurrencies to be taxed at receiver’s end. Now,  the gains from virtual digital assets like cryptocurrency will be reported by the taxpayers as this announcement gives them a sense of clarity from the government.

FM announces central bank digital currency, which will be a digital rupee using blockchain and other technologies. It will be issued by the RBI in 2022-23. With an increased digitalisation in the country, this move by the government can act as fuel to the country’s growth by making the systems more transparent and efficient. In fact,  the government has proposed to set up 75 digital banking units in 75 different districts by Scheduled commercial banks which will enable users to actively participate in banking transactions. A new provision to allow taxpayers to file an updated return has been announced. Updated returns can be filed within 2 years from the end of the relevant assessment year in case they miss to report any income when the returns were being filed. This will provide convenience to the taxpayer. The surcharge on the long-term capital gains (LTCG) has been capped at 15% irrespective of the asset class. This will benefit the HNI investors as this measure will lead to more disposable income and hence more savings!

Post offices will come under the core banking system, enabling financial inclusion and access to accounts through net banking, mobile banking, ATM, and also providing online transfer of funds between post office accounts and bank accounts. This will help in increasing the accessibility of the services offered by the post office and will contribute towards financial inclusion.  In 2022-23, 80 lakh houses will be completed for identified eligible beneficiaries of PM Awas Yojana – both rural and urban. Rs 48,000 crore has been allotted. This will provide affordable housing to the urban poor and will help the government in achieving the objective of providing the basic necessity of shelter.

To promote sustainable development, the government is planning to introduce Sovereign Green Bonds in the financial year in 2023, for mobilizing resources in green infra, to reduce the carbon intensity of the economy. To conclude, along with major developments seen across sectors, the infrastructure sector has seen a major allocation of funds from the government. This would lead to economic growth in the real estate investment segment, attracting investors towards REITs and InvITs.