• Tax for the middle class:No tax payable by individuals having taxable income up to INR 12 lakh (excluding income chargeable at special rates, such as capital gains). Individual having salary income up to INR 12.75 lakh are not liable to any tax in view of standard deduction of INR 75,000. However, no rebate is available if taxable income (excluding income chargeable at special rates, such as capital gains) exceeds INR 12 lakh. However, marginal relief will be available
• Merger and Fast Track Mergerwill be speedy and the process will be simplified
• Presumptive tax regimeintroduced for Non- Residents dealing with resident companies in respect of electronic manufacturing
• Assessable value (AV) of SOP house propertyis NIL only on fulfilment of conditions – now, AV of two SOPs can be NIL without any conditions. So, Taxpayers can now declare two properties as self-occupied properties, without the need to meet additional conditions.
• Expanded Safe Harbour scope to cut down on transfer pricing disputes and enhance tax certainty.
• Start-ups got a boost-Tax holiday available for businesses set up until 01 April 2030
• Charitable Trust-Proposes to reduce the compliance burden on small charitable trusts and institutions by increasing the registration period from 5 years to 10 years. Charitable trusts and institutions are granted registration under section 12A for a specified period. Provisional registration is valid for 3 years and final registration is valid for 5 years.
  The periodic registration procedure has increased the compliance requirements, causing difficulties for trusts. In order to ease the regulatory strain, the validity of final registration under section 12AB is increased from 5 years to 10 years for small trusts with income up to INR 5 crore without considering the exemption under section 11, in each of the 2 previous years, preceding the year in which the application is made. This amendment is effective from 1 April 2025.
• Updated Return facility– extend the time limit for filing updated ROI from 2 years to 4 years
• Senior Citizen-Limit for a tax deduction of interest for senior citizens to be doubled from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1,00,000 and also propose reducing TDS rates, threshold

• Liberal Remittance Scheme-The threshold to collect Tax Collected at Source (TCS) on remittances under LRS increased from Rs 7 lakhs to Rs 10 lakhs. TCS on remittances for education purposes, where the remittance is out of a loan from a financial institution, has been removed. 
• The TDS limitunder Section 194-I on rent increased from 2.4 lakhs to Rs. 6 lakhs
• A High-Level Committeewill be set up to review Non-Financials Regulatory changes and report  within one year
• Further decriminalizationin more than 100 provisions of various acts
• NPS- Contributions to the NPS Vatsalya Scheme would now be eligible for the same deduction as contributions to the NPS under the overall ceiling of INR 50,000 as per Section 80CCD(1B), for parent / guardian making contributions for a minor.

• Maritime Sector:The Union Budget 2025 focuses on strengthening India’s maritime sector through infrastructure development, financial incentives, and policy reforms.

Maritime Development Fund: Rs. 25,000 crore corpus for long-term financing, with up to 49% government contribution, to promote competition and support maritime development

• IFSC-to promote the development of world-class financial infrastructure and to further incentivize operations from IFSC following few amendments were made
• Extension of sunset dates for several tax concessions pertaining to IFSC -Income of non-residents or IFSC units is exempt (in certain scenarios) if the operations in IFSC have commenced on or before 31 March 2025 or 31 March 2026. Now, this sunset clause for the commencement of operations or the relocation of funds has been extended to 31 March 2030.  
• Deemed Dividend-Loan given to/by a finance company situated in IFSC set up as a global or regional corporate treasury center by/to its group entities or by/to its parent / principal entity listed in an overseas stock exchange shall not be deemed to be the dividend. The conditions for being considered as a group entity, parent entity or principal entity shall be prescribed. 
• Amendment of Section 10 related to Exempt income of Non-Residents- any income accrued or arisen to, or received by a non-resident on account of transfer of non-deliverable forward contracts or offshore derivative instruments or over-the-counter derivatives, or distribution of income on offshore derivative instruments entered into with an offshore banking unit of an IFSC is exempt from tax. To further incentivize operations from the IFSC, the scope of this exemption is proposed to be extended to cases where derivatives contracts are entered into with Foreign Portfolio Investors, being an IFSC unit.
• Exemption on a life insurance policy from IFSC Insurance offices-provided that the annual amount of premium or aggregate of premiums payable is less than s. 2.5 lakhs for unit-linked insurance policies, and less than Rs. 5 lakhs for life insurance policies other than unit-linked insurance policies.
• Exemption to capital gains and dividends for ship leasing units in IFSC-exemption is granted to non-residents or units of IFSC engaged in ship leasing on capital gains tax on transfer of equity shares of domestic companies being units of IFSC, engaged in ship leasing. Further exemption is also provided for dividend paid by a company being a unit of IFSC engaged in ship leasing, to another unit of IFSC engaged in ship leasing. These exemptions were already given to IFSC units engaged in aircraft leasing activities.
• Simplified regime for fund managers based in IFSC-Presently, fund management activities in India of an overseas fund do not constitute a business connection for the fund in India if certain conditions are satisfied. One of the conditions provides that the aggregate participation by a resident in the fund should not exceed 5%. If the fund manager is in IFSC, some of the conditions are relaxed including the above condition of maximum resident investor participation.  Now, if the condition of less than 5% resident investor participation is not satisfied as on 1 April or 1 October of a previous year, the exemption may still be available if the condition is satisfied within 4 months from 1 April or 1 October. Further, for a fund manager in IFSC, this condition of 5% resident investor participation shall not be relaxed.
• Inclusion of retail schemes and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in the existing relocation regime of funds of IFSCA-any transfer by a shareholder or unit holder or interest holder, in a relocation, of a capital asset being a share or unit or interest held by him in the original fund in consideration for the share or unit or interest in the resultant fund shall not be regarded as transfer for the purposes of calculating capital gains, provided that the“resultant fund” is a fund established or incorporated in India, which has been granted a certificate of registration as a Category I or Category II or Category III Alternative Investment Fund, which is located in any IFSC and is subject to certain conditions provided therein. Now the exemption will include such retail schemes or Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) within the definition of resultant fund. This amendment will take effect from the 1st day of April 2026.

17. Restriction on carry forward of losses in case of amalgamation and reorganization

Currently, it provides that the accumulated loss of the amalgamating entity or predecessor entity shall be deemed to be the loss of the amalgamated entity or the successor entity for the previous year in which amalgamation or business reorganisation has been effected or brought into force. i.e. the loss of the predecessor entity can be carried forward for a fresh period of 8 AYs from the date of amalgamation / reorganisation. Now, the period for carry forward of the loss is restricted to 8 years from the year in which such loss was incurred by the predecessor entity.

Here are a few key points affecting the corporate sector from the Union Budget 2025-26 and Economic Survey:

1. Deregulation & Ease of Doing Business
   • Over 100 legal provisions decriminalizedto reduce corporate compliance burdens.
   • FDI limit for insurance increased from 74% to 100% subject to the condition that they have to invest the entire premium in India, This will promote higher foreign investment.
   • Introduction of Investment Friendliness Indexfor state-level competitiveness.
   • Systematic deregulation and economic freedom initiativesto boost corporate growth.

2. MSMEs & Startup Growth Initiatives
   • Loan guarantees for MSMEs increased, from Rs. 5 crore to Rs. 10 crore, Startups – Increased from Rs. 10 crore to Rs. 20 crore, and for Exporter MSMEs – Term loans above Rs. 20 crore.
   • Fund of Funds expanded by ₹10,000 croreto support emerging startups.
   • New credit guarantee scheme for startups, raising limits from ₹10 crore to ₹20 crore.
   • Customized credit cardswith ₹5 lakh limit introduced for Udyam-registered MSMEs.

3. Infrastructure & Capital Expenditure Boost
   • ₹1.5 lakh crore interest-free loansfor states to enhance infrastructure and capex.
   • Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) expandedfor urban redevelopment and water sanitation.
   • Maritime Development Fund of ₹25,000 croreto promote port infrastructure.
   • National Manufacturing Missionto promote clean-tech and industrial self-reliance.

4. Tax Reforms & Financial Sector Development
   • TCS on sale of goods removed, reducing compliance burdens for businesses.
   • Tax relief for business trusts (REITs/InvITs)on capital gains at a lower rate of 12.5%.
   • Customs duty exemptionsfor critical pharma and clean-tech imports.
   • Bharat Trade Net platform (A digital public infrastructure for international trade) will beintroduced acting as a unified platform for trade documentation and financing solutions for seamless cross-border trade and financing.

5. Investment in AI & Digital Economy
   • ₹500 crore allocated for AI-driven education & workforce skilling.
   • Private-sector R&D to receive ₹20,000 crore funding, promoting innovation.
   • Geospatial & Export Promotion Missions launched, enhancing global trade competitiveness.
   • Future-Ready Workforce initiativesto train employees for AI, automation, and big data.

6. National Framework for Global Capability Centres- GCC

• National Framework for GCCs will be established as a guidance to states for promoting GCCs in emerging Tier-2 cities; it will include measures to enhance infrastructure and talent, and build mechanisms in collaboration with industry.

These policies collectively aim to boost investment, reduce corporate hurdles, and foster industrial expansion in India.