The Union Budget 2024 has maintained its commitment to fiscal prudence yet announced various tax-friendly measures for the Indian taxpayers. From the perspective of the Insurance Sector, amendment made by the government to clarify various activities in insurance sector as neither a supply of goods nor a supply of services is an extremely positive measure for the sector. This will immensely reduce compliance and ongoing litigation burden and provide overall stability to the sector.
Rationalisation of tax deducted at source (TDS) from 5% to 2% for payment of insurance commission to individual agents will ensure additional income in the hands of such individuals for payments made by the insurers. TDS reduction to 2% for payment of bonus or proceeds made on life insurance policies upon maturity will also ensure higher receivables for individual policyholders.
Abolishment of angel tax for all classes of investors will provide a huge fillip to the start-up sector that in the past had witnessed funding winter. This will bring in the much-needed capital, especially from the foreign investors to the growing start-up ecosystem of the country and aid in their future growth.
Floods are one of the most common natural disasters in India. Identifying key states, the government has taken strong steps towards flood mitigation. As systemic risks of floods get mitigated over time through various measures like flood-controlled structures, it will aid insurance companies in underwriting the risks related to liability and property insurance better going forward.
New assessment model for MSME credit and announcement of credit guarantee scheme will also foster better insurance collaboration with lending companies and aid in better assessment of risks.
From an ancillary benefits point of view, the government’s proposal to boost domestic tourism and unlock economic potential of key destinations will have an ancillary impact on travel insurance as well and boost its uptake as bite-sized travel insurance products will likely become part of travellers’ planning.
The government’s aim to prioritise agriculture research and developing climate-resilient varieties of 32 field and horticulture crops will also have an ancillary effect on the crop insurance segment as losses over medium- to long-term will likely reduce from loss of crop due to climate-related incidents.
The Finance Minister’s financial sector vision and strategy document will also be another keenly watched policy by the BFSI sector to garner better insights on the agenda planned by the government for the remaining decade.
