Cellphones, cigars to be costlier
NEW DELHI: Feb 2, 2017, DHNS
Mobile phones, cigarettes and pan masala will cost more, but the cost of digital payments, e-ticketing and LNG will come down as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday tweaked certain customs and excise duties in the Budget for 2017-18.
Tickets bought through the website of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will be cheaper. To encourage cashless payments, service charge on e-tickets booked through IRCTC was proposed to be withdrawn.
Ahead of a forthcoming levy of sin tax in the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Jaitley proposed to increase excise duty on non-filter cigarettes of a length not exceeding 65 mm to Rs 311 per 1,000 from Rs 215 per 1,000.
He almost doubled the excise duty on non-manufactured tobacco to 8.3% from the current 4.2%. Excise duty on pan masala having tobacco was proposed to be hiked to 9% from the existing 6%.
The comparatively cheaper LED lights will cost more as some parts used for manufacturing them will attract a basic customs duty of 5%. Customs duty on printed circuit boards for manufacturing mobile phones will be hiked to 2% from a nil tax regime earlier, making mobile phones costlier.
But customs duty on liquefied natural gas (LNG) is proposed to be reduced to 2.5% from 5%. Levy on point-of-sale (POS) machines and iris readers will be reduced to encourage digital payments.
However, there was not much tinkering in the excise duty and service tax owing to a likely implementation of the GST in September.
Tickets bought through the website of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will be cheaper. To encourage cashless payments, service charge on e-tickets booked through IRCTC was proposed to be withdrawn.
Ahead of a forthcoming levy of sin tax in the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Jaitley proposed to increase excise duty on non-filter cigarettes of a length not exceeding 65 mm to Rs 311 per 1,000 from Rs 215 per 1,000.
He almost doubled the excise duty on non-manufactured tobacco to 8.3% from the current 4.2%. Excise duty on pan masala having tobacco was proposed to be hiked to 9% from the existing 6%.
The comparatively cheaper LED lights will cost more as some parts used for manufacturing them will attract a basic customs duty of 5%. Customs duty on printed circuit boards for manufacturing mobile phones will be hiked to 2% from a nil tax regime earlier, making mobile phones costlier.
But customs duty on liquefied natural gas (LNG) is proposed to be reduced to 2.5% from 5%. Levy on point-of-sale (POS) machines and iris readers will be reduced to encourage digital payments.
However, there was not much tinkering in the excise duty and service tax owing to a likely implementation of the GST in September.
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