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The Angel Tax still looms around. Yet, the Union Budget 2018-19 does have some promising provisions that can kick-start your startup. Wondering how? Check out the budget highlights given below that can benefit your nascent company.

• Increased opportunities for startups in certain sectors

Education, agriculture and rural sectors – if your business interest is concerned with any of these then this is the right time to invest in your startup. By assigning Rs. 85010 crore and proposing to digitize education, the budget has made this sector more lucrative. While coming to the Bharat Net Project, Rs. 8000 crores have been allocated to launch broadband services covering 1.5 lakh gram panchayats. This means better access to rural markets for agricultural ventures.

• Opportunity to expand consumer base

This holds true if your startup pertains to OTT (Over-the-Top) content or online shopping. Firstly, the capital for the Digital India scheme has been doubled to Rs. 3073 crore which means better infrastructure. Secondly, the budget has allocated Rs. 10,000 crore for rural Wi-Fi hotspots and instalment of 5 lakh Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the nation.

• Lower tax; increased savings

As a startup, your company already enjoys certain tax exemptions for the first 5 years from its inception. Adding to your advantage, the budget has cut down the corporate tax rate to 25% from 30% for all enterprises with a turnover up to Rs. 250 crore. This will surely increase your retained earnings as an MSME (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise) as you’ll have more cash surplus for better and sounder investments.

• Pro-startups policy revamp

“The re-financing policy and eligibility criteria set up by the MUDRA will be reviewed for better re-financing of MSMEs”, stated Arun Jaitley, the Union Finance Minister, during the budget speech. He has also announced working on the policies and development measures required for the growth of fintech companies in India. Furthermore, get ready to welcome foreign investments into your startup because the use of hybrid instruments (convertible bonds, equity swaps, preferred stock, etc.) is likely.

• New hope for Artificial Intelligence (AI) related ventures

With separate funds allocated to incorporate new technologies in the country, startups involved in AI are said to have a brighter financial future. But as to how the funds are to be utilized- whether as grants or for research purposes – is yet to be decided by the government.

Now you know what the budget has in store for your startup but apart from revenue, a good company also needs the right venue. If you are on the lookout for an office space or a virtual office for your startup, then get started with Ikeva right away.  Just click here:  https://dev.ikeva.com/