Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government's budget for 2010-11 today proposed to extend the ambit of welfare schemes like employment guarantee and food subsidy, reduce taxes on tourism, beer and wine and impose fresh ones
on direct to home services and jewellery shop owners.
While continuing with most of the schemes under the Rs 10,000-crore stimulus package unveiled last year during the
slowdown, State Finance Minister Thomas Isaac in his budget announced fresh sops for the crisis-hit tourism sector by
slashing the luxury tax.
Luxury tax on tourism, a major revenue earner, was brought down to 7.5 per cent and 12.5 per cent in different
categories from 10 per cent and 15 per cent.
Among other highlights of the budget are the extension of the Rs 2-per-kg-rice scheme to labourers of the unorganised
sector from June and the employment guarantee scheme to the urban areas. The government has earmarked Rs 500 crore for the food subsidy plan that will benefit about 3.5 million families.
Possibly with an eye on the assembly polls next year, the budget also left VAT rates untouched but proposed a 10 per
cent hike in tax on liquor other than beer and wine.
The budget, showing a cumulative deficit of Rs 577.09 crore, also sharply brought down the stamp duty on registration of real estate property as a sop to recession-hit construction sector.
Stating that Kerala cannot get rid of the revenue deficit by 2014-15 as suggested by the 13th Finance Commission,
Issac said it would be Rs 3629.55 crore for the year, about 11.64 per cent of the state's revenue.
Total capital expenditure is pegged at Rs 4145.38 crore while the state plans to raise Rs 874.14 crore, mainly by
tapping non-tax sources.
Tax on beer and wine was slashed by 10 per cent, but that on other liquors was increased by 10 per cent.
The budget also sought to rationalise stamp duty and increased lifetime tax to 8 per cent for new motor cars and omni buses for private use, where engine capacityis 1500 cc and above.
A lifetime tax of six per cent ad valorem on all types of construction equipment vehicles was also imposed.
As the steep rise in gold prices had not been adequately reflected in the compounded tax, the budget refixed tax rates
increase payable by the Jewellery shop owners.
Direct to Home service was brought under the tax net, with a levy of one per cent tax on gross charges paid by
customers.
To protect small-scale Cable TV operators, it exempted those having less than 5000 connections from luxury tax.
The budget proposed to regularise conversion of paddy land into commercial land in revenue records prior to 2008 by
levying a fee on the basis of newly fixed fair value of land.
This will come into force from April next. Another proposal was to mobilise revenue from sand and silt mining from dams.
The budget pegged outlay for large-scale industries, tourism and IT sectors at Rs 412 crore and proposed to start
eight Public Sector Units with a total investment of Rs 125 crore.
An amount of Rs 275 crore was earmarked for expansion of existing PSUs and Rs 246 crore for protection of traditional
sectors.
The budget earmarked Rs 70 crore for development of IT parks at Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi and Cyber parks at
Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod.
No comments:
Post a Comment