All eyes will be on whether Sitharaman provides the much-expected tax relief for the middle class, leaving more money in their hands, as there is tax buoyancy. Besides, the market also expects staying on the fiscal glide path to lower the fiscal deficit to 4.5 per cent of GDP by 2025-26.
Fiscal Deficit: The budgeted fiscal deficit, which is the difference between the government expenditure and income, for the current fiscal is 5.1 per cent as projected in the Interim Budget in February, against 5.8 per cent in the last fiscal year. The full Budget is expected to provide better-than-earlier projections as there has been tax buoyancy.
Capital Expenditure: The government’s planned capital expenditure for this fiscal year is budgeted at ₹11.1 lakh crore, higher than ₹9.5 lakh crore in the last fiscal year. The government has been pushing infrastructure creation and also incentivising states to step up capex.
Tax Revenue: The Interim Budget had pegged gross tax revenue at ₹38.31 lakh crore for 2024-25, an 11.46 per cent growth over the last fiscal. This includes ₹21.99 lakh crore estimated to come from direct taxes (personal income tax + corporate tax), and ₹16.22 lakh crore from indirect taxes (customs + excise duty + GST).
GST: Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection in 2024-25 is estimated to rise to ₹10.68 lakh crore, an increase of 11.6 per cent. The tax revenue figures will have to be watched out for in the final Budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
-PTI