From foreign travel to F&O trades: Union Budget brings BIG changes for taxpayers—Check details inside
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "From foreign travel to F&O trades: Union Budget brings BIG changes for taxpayers—Check details inside")
Representational Image. Photograph: (Unsplash)
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lowered the TCS on overseas tour packages to 2 per cent, removing earlier thresholds. At present, a 5 per cent TCS applies to spending up to Rs 10 lakh in a financial year, while amounts exceeding Rs 10 lakh attract a 20 per cent levy.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman relieved taxpayers on Sunday after announcing in the Budget that foreign travel and remitting money for education abroad would be made cheaper. However, she increased the tax amount on futures and option trading in order to provide a reasonable course correction.
Meanwhile, the Finance Minister left the income tax slabs untouched, with no extra tax to be charged. It will follow the announced 2025 tax slab. Likewise, the Budget did not announce any changes to long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax or the standard deduction under the new tax regime, despite expectations from several quarters ahead of the presentation.
LTCG refers to gains earned from the sale of a capital asset held over a long period, including immovable property such as land and buildings, as well as financial instruments like equity shares and equity mutual funds.
Foreign travel is getting cheaper
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lowered the Tax Collected at Source (TCS) on overseas tour packages to 2 per cent, removing earlier thresholds. At present, a 5 per cent TCS applies to spending up to Rs 10 lakh in a financial year, while amounts exceeding Rs 10 lakh attract a 20 per cent levy.
She also revised TCS rates on education and medical remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), cutting them from 5 per cent to 2 per cent. This move is expected to benefit families, including parents transferring funds for children studying overseas.
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F&O trading is now expensive
Meanwhile, Sitharaman emphasised the need for a reasonable course correction while announcing a hike in the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on futures and options trading. She said that the STT on Futures would be increased to 0.05 per cent from the existing 0.02 per cent to provide reasonable course correction in the F&O segment in the capital market and generate extra revenues for the government.
At the same time, STT on options has been revised, with the levy on premium and exercise of options, which is proposed to be raised to 0.15 per cent from the present rate of 0.1 per cent and 0.125 per cent, respectively.
The government has also proposed a one-time six-month scheme allowing small taxpayers to voluntarily disclose foreign assets. Under the proposal, small taxpayers—defined as students, young professionals and NRIs- will be able to declare overseas assets below specified limits of Rs 1 crore or Rs 5 crore and receive immunity from prosecution.
