Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman kept the income tax rates applicable to the common taxpayer intact in the first Budget of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second term, but proposed few changes in terms of excise duty and cess. The government announced an increase in the cess and excise duty each by 1 rupee per litre on petrol and diesel, and increased the customs duty on gold to 12.5 per cent from 10 per cent. Both the proposals meant purchase of commodities such as fuel and gold will become costlier going forward. Ms Sitharaman said a higher customs duty on gold and precious metals will mobilise resources. Besides, the government also raised the basic customs duty applicable to a range of products such as tiles, cashew kernels, vinyl flooring, auto parts, some synthetic rubber, digital and video recorder and CCTV camera.
On the other hand, the government proposed to reduce customs duty on certain raw materials and capital goods to promote domestic manufacturing. These include amorphous alloy ribbon, ethylene di-chloride, propylene oxide, cobalt matte, naphtha, wool fibres, inputs for manufacture of artificial kidney and disposable sterilised dialyser, and fuels for nuclear power plants.
Here’s a full list of items cheaper and costlier after Budget 2019 announcements:
| Items | Cheaper/Costlier |
|---|---|
| Petrol | Costlier |
| Diesel | Costlier |
| Gold | Costlier |
| Imported books | Costlier |
| Cashew kernels | Costlier |
| PVC | Costlier |
| Vinyl flooring | Costlier |
| Tiles | Costlier |
| Metal fittings | Costlier |
| Mountings for furniture | Costlier |
| Auto parts | Costlier |
| Certain kinds of synthetic rubbers | Costlier |
| Marble slabs | Costlier |
| Optical fibre cable | Costlier |
| CCTV camera | Costlier |
| IP camera | Costlier |
| Digital and network video recorders | Costlier |
| Cigarette | Costlier |
| Electronic appliances | Cheaper |
| Electric vehicles | Cheaper |
