Finance Minister Increases Basic Custom Duty Rates On Certain IT Products To 2.5%

Budget 2021: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget on February 1, 2021

Budget 2021: The government increased the basic custom duty rates on certain IT sector-specific products like inputs related to machines capable of connecting to automatic data processing machines, ink cartridges etc from zero to 2.5 per cent. Along with this, in order to provide an impetus to digital payments, the government earmarked a sum of Rs 1,500 crore to promote digital payments. The budget also proposed that internet services will be utilized for National Language Translation Mission for the dissemination of governance-and-policy-related knowledge.

The government announced that additional tax incentives will be provided to support the development of a world class Fin-tech hub at the GIFT-IFSC. The government also announced the setting up of National Digital Educational Architecture for supporting educational, governance, and administrative activities. This is likely to support the education ecosystem architecture for the development of digital infrastructure. The Finance Minister also announced zero-rating benefits in case of supplies made to SEZ units where supplies used for authorized operations.

As part of the budget, the government also announced that it will launch data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning-driven MCA21 version 3.0. to have additional modules for e-scrutiny, eAdjudication, e-consultation, as well as compliance management.