.jpg)
Countdown to First Paperless Union Budget 2021 Begins with First Ever Union Budget Mobile App!!
The Count-down to the ‘Union Budget 2021-22’ has begun with the conducting of the ceremonial ‘Halwa Ceremony’ on 23.1.2021. As a customary ritual, a mouth-watering sweet-dish ‘Halwa’ is prepared in humongous quantity in a huge ‘Kadhai’ (as depicted in the picture), and is distributed by the FM among all the office bearers of the Finance Ministry involved in the Budget making process. Interestingly, halwa ceremony also marks the beginning of about a week’s lock-down period (not caused due to corona ofcourse) for the finance ministry officials who are directly associated with the budget-making and printing process and during this lock-down period, these officials are not even allowed to meet with their family, for ensuring confidentiality of the budget papers, till the Budget is officially presented by the FM in the Parliament.
Last fiscal, our beloved FM has dropped the usual leather briefcase and instead has chosen to carry the Union Budget papers in a ‘Red Bahikhata’. However, this year’s Union Budget 2021, slated to be presented on February 1, 2021, is going to be completely paperless in the wake of the corona pandemic, as the Budget papers will not be printed and only the digital copies will be circulated.
In an unprecedented budget awareness initiative, on the occasion of the ‘halwa ceremony’, the Hon’ble FM Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman has also launched the “Union Budget Mobile App” for hassle-free access of Budget documents by Members of Parliament (MPs) and the general public using the simplest form of digital convenience. The mobile App facilitates complete access to 14 Union Budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement (commonly known as Budget), Demand for Grants (DG), Finance Bill etc. as prescribed by the Constitution.
The App has a user-friendly interface with embedded features of downloading, printing, search, zoom in and out, bidirectional scrolling, table of contents and external links, etc. It is bilingual (English & Hindi) and will be available on both Android and iOS platforms. The App can also be downloaded from the Union Budget Web Portal (www.indiabudget.gov.in). The App has been developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the guidance of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA).
The Budget documents will be available on the Mobile App after the completion of the Budget Speech by the Finance Minister in Parliament on 1st February, 2021.
Some Practical & Pragmatic Suggestions for Tax Reform Measures for the Union Budget 2021-22
For doing justice to the herculean task of oxygenating the economy lying on ventilator, the FM needs to put in some extra-ordinary and sincere efforts in this year’s Budget.
Measures such as rationalizing the advance tax instalments mandating the payments of 25%-50%-75% instead of the existing 60%-75%-90%, extension of similar benefits of reduced tax rates u/s 115BAA to firms and LLPs, extending the benefit of presumptive taxation u/s 44ADA to partners of firms and LLPs, can result in increased disposable income for consumption, both in the hands of individuals and corporates.
Ensuring speedy refunds by doing away with the withholding provision in section 241A can produce better results to inject liquidity in the economy than the fiscal packages. Increasing ‘safe harbour limit’ from the present 10% to 20% permanently in sections 50C, 43CA & 56(2)(x) can help a lot in boosting the real-estate sector.
Other procedural amendments like keeping the tax audit due date after the ITR filing due date and giving a by-default right of personal hearing via video conferencing to the assessees in all assessments, appeals and penalty cases in the new faceless regime, can help a lot in reducing probable tussles and litigations.
These basic yet effective measures can do wonders in bringing ‘Ease of Doing Business’ on ground, in real terms and not just on paper.
