Buying your next pack of cigarettes is set to get more expensive with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hiking tax on cigarettes, tobacco products in the Union Budget this Saturday. The government has also raised customs duty on various consumer goods while scrapping duty on raw sugar and agro-animal based products.
There is little cheer for consumers as customs duty on various items has witnessed a hike. The Finance Minister in her speech has said that the Union Budget was aimed at boosting income and increasing
In a move that is aimed to benefit the textile and plastic manufacturers across, the Centre has abolished anti-dumping duty on purified terephthalic acid (PTA) a chemical used in the manufacturing of polyester PET.
The centre has also halved customs duty on newsprint, lightweight coated paper to 5%, this was after hiking the duty to 10% in 2019 union budget.
Apart from these little perks, the budget offers very little reasons for cheer. The months ahead could make certain items expensive with customs and import duties being hiked for several consumer goods.
With summer just two months away, customs duty on wall fans have been increased from 7.5% to 20 %. Customs duty on specified goods used in refrigerators and AC have also been hiked to 12.5%.
The customs duty on tableware, kitchenware has also been hiked for products made of porcelain or China ceramic, clay iron, steel, copper, the duty has been hiked by 20%.
Apart from that customs duty on footwear has been hiked to 35% from 25%. On furniture goods, it has been hiked to 25%.
Got an ageing vehicle with a troublesome spare part? be ready to shell out more. While there were no sops announced for the auto sector, which has been reeling from its worst slump in a decade, customs duty on auto, auto parts raised by up to 10%. Catalytic converter, a device for emission control will also be expensive.
The customs duty for the import of food processing products has been hiked to 100%. A Health Cess has also been levied on medical equipment and the government expects to fund hospitals through the tax collected.
“To achieve the twin objectives of giving impetus to the domestic industry and also to generate resource for health services, I propose to impose a nominal health cess, by way of a duty of customs, on the imports of medical equipment keeping in view that these goods are now being made significantly in India. The proceed from this cess shall be used for creating infrastructure for health services in the aspirational districts,” FM Sitharaman said in her speech.