‘Service Tax and Home Budget’

The major escalation of 12.36 percent from 10.3 percent in service tax is surely going to burn a hole in the common man’s pocket and a whole load more. The same climb has been made for excise duty as well. The worst part of this hike is that the overall expenses of ‘aam admi’ are going to sky-rocket. If this trend continues, the consumption level of regular Indian citizens will dip sharply. Even though the exemption for medical check-ups has been made 5,000, visits to doctors will still cost us as service tax has been hiked.

Even the hike in excise duties will cost us as the expenses bored by manufacturers and distributors will be finally passed on to end customers. Items across all categories are going to face an increase, from toiletries to cars. The increase in service tax has been implemented only in items pertaining to discretionary income. Monthly expenses on such item are going to increase between 4,000 to 6,000 per month. For regular Joes, this amount is huge, as cost of things is soaring day by day.

The Union Budget has not lived up to our expectations but if this trend continues, our faith from the government is bound to get eroded. So, the government should work towards our welfare in the next Union Budget.