From Finance Bill to Termination of Pregnancy, Bills passed by Parliament

Parliament passed 12 bills during the curtailed budget session with Lok Sabha passing 15 bills and Rajya Sabha 13. During the session, 19 bills were introduced in the two Houses (18 in Lok Sabha and 1 in Rajya Sabha).
The two Houses were adjourned sine die on Monday after completion of the budgetary process including passage of the Finance Bill. The second part of the session was curtailed in view of the threat of the spread of coronavirus.
The budget session began on January 31 and the first part of the session ended on February 11 while the second part of the session commenced on March 2. The recess was used by department-related standing committees to examine the demands for grants.
Here are the details of the Bills passed by either Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha or both.
The Appropriation (No.2) Bill, 2020: Initiated by the finance ministry to authorise payment and appropriation of certain sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India for the services of the financial year 2019-20. Details here
The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No.2) Bill: Initiated by the finance ministry to Issue of Rs 55317,81,00,000 from and out of the Consolidated Fund of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir for financial year 2019-20. Details here
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The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No.4) Bill: Initiated by the finance ministry to Issue of Rs. 123127,98,40,000 from and out of the Consolidated Fund of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir for financial year 2020-21. Details here
The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No.3) Bill, 2020: Initiated by the finance ministry to Issue of Rs. 208,70,40,000 from and out of the Consolidated Fund of State of Jammu and Kashmir for financial year 2019-20. Details here
The Appropriation Bill, 2020: To authorise the government to draw funds from the Consolidated Fund of India for its working.
Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill: Initiated by Human Resource and Development Ministry to declare five IIITs as institutes of national importance. Details here
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020: The amended bill has provision to increase the upper limit of legal abortions to 24 weeks for special categories of women. Details here
The Minerals Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020: This bill will enable the companies to participate in the coal auction even if they don't have prior experience in the field.

The Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Bill, 2020: To provide for the establishment of an Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda and to declare it as an Institution of national importance for the promotion of quality and excellence in education, research and training in Ayurveda. Details here

No tax liability if your income is up to Rs 9.5 lakh, but conditions apply

Personal Finance News:

Stressing that tax concessions have been provided with a view to help poor and middle-class people living on a tight budget, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said that now individuals earning up to Rs 9.5 lakh can escape liability by taking advantage of saving schemes.

Replying to the debate on the Finance Bill in Lok Sabha, the Minister said he did not propose any change in the tax rate but only provided few rebates which will boost spending and help the economy.
The Finance Bill, which contains tax proposals, was passed by the Lok Sabha with a voice vote, completing the budgetary process in the lower house.

In a swipe at the Congress, the Minister said that unlike the previous UPA dispensation, the present Modi government in the interim budget did not reduce levies of SUVs which are used by rich persons.

In the Finance Bill 2019, the Minister proposed to raise tax rebate for people having annual income up to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 2,500 to Rs 12,500, which will effectively ensure that they don't have to pay any tax.

In the Bill, standard deduction has also been raised from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000, besides a host of tax benefits to home buyers.

The concessions proposed in the Finance Bill, Goyal said, are aimed at helping "poor and middle-class people living on a tight budget...This is interim budget. We have not brought any tax proposal...we will bring them in July," he said.


 The next government, which will be formed after the upcoming general elections, will come out with a full budget in July. The next government will also come up with a Finance Bill containing the tax proposals for 2019-20.