Goods imported in pre-packaged form and intended for retail sale and certain specified goods namely, ready-made garments, mobile phones and watches are being provided an outright exemption from additional duty of customs of 4%. In addition, outright exemption from this duty is also being provided to Carbon Black Feedstock, waste paper and paper scrap.

Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994 is being amended to,- a) insert an explanation in sub-section (3) of Section 73 to clarify that no penalty shall be imposed where service tax along with interest has been paid before issuance of notice by the department under this sub-section. b) provide definition of the term ‘business entity’ to include an association of persons, body of individuals, company or firm but not an individual.

Statutory taxes charged by the foreign governments are being excluded from taxable value for levy of service tax under the Air passenger transport service. 2) Exemption from service tax is being provided to services relating to ‘Erection, Commissioning or Installation’ of,-

The existing taxable service ‘Intellectual Property Right (IPR)’ excludes copyright from its scope. Copyrights on (a) cinematographic films and (b) sound recording are being brought under the ambit of service tax. However, copyright on original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work would continue to remain outside the scope of service tax.

Under the scheme of deduction of tax at source as provided in the Income-tax Act, every person responsible for payment of any specified sum to any person is required to deduct tax at source at the prescribed rate and deposit it with the Central Government within the specified time. However, no deduction is required to be made if the payments do not exceed prescribed threshold limits.

Income up to Rs 1.6 lakh – nil. Income above Rs 1.6 lakh and up to Rs 5 lakh – 10 per cent. Income above Rs 5 lakh and up to Rs 8 lakh – 20 per cent. Income above Rs 8 lakh – 30 per cent

The Finance Minister proposed to extend the concessional export finance regime for select exporters for one more year till March 31, 2011, thus giving the slowdown-hit sector further relief. “I propose to extend the interest subvention of 2 per cent for one more year for exports covering handicrafts, carpets, hand-looms and small and medium enterprises (SMEs),” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said while presenting Budget for 2010-11.

# Income up to Rs 1.6 lakh – nil Income above Rs 1.6 lakh and up to Rs 5 lakh – 10 per cent Income above Rs 5 lakh and up to Rs 8 lakh – 20 per cent Income above Rs 8 lakh – 30 per cent. # Income Tax department ready with two-page Saral-2 return forms for individual salaried assesses.

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The government is exploring an increase in the income-tax exemption limit for individuals to compensate for the high recent inflation, but revenue considerations and the fact that the limit was hiked sharply in 2008-09 could force it to maintain status quo or give just a token hike. The proposal has figured in the preliminary discussions , as the policymakers debate ways to give some relief to households from high inflation.