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This Budget Has Made Romancing A Really Expensive Affair

This Budget Has Made Romancing A Really Expensive Affair
Couple sitting on deck
ImagesBazaar via Getty Images
Couple sitting on deck

Dating isn't an easy task. Of course, the first hurdle is to find a date. But for that, there's Tinder, for some Twitter and for others, great friends who feel obliged to say "Haave you met my friend..." at every social gathering, irrespective of whether the setting is a wedding or a pub. But what happens after you find a date? You go out on dates.

Thanks to our Finance Minister, dating just got a little more difficult.

With the proposal to impose a new cess--the Krishi Kalyan Cess--of 0.5 percent on all services, everything is bound to get even more expensive. So, impressing ain't going to be easy with nearly prices of all services being hiked up--From watching a movie to dining out and to even getting a haircut. Been thinking of buying a car to impress someone? One, bad idea. Two, it just got more expensive with an additional 1% tax on luxury cars.

But before you start whining, do consider what the money is for. The proceeds of the Krishi Kalyan Cess would be exclusively used for financing initiatives relating to improvement of agriculture and welfare of farmers. The cess is going to be implemented from June 2016.

This addition is after the already in place 0.5 per cent Swachh Bharat cess that is imposed on all taxable services. Three months ago, service tax on restaurant bills had gone up from 5.6 percent to 5.8 percent, following the levy of this cess. Now, it's going to escalate further.

If you are in a long-distance relationship, and are cheering this, (because you don't have to go out on 'dates') well, don't. You will now to pay more for those phone calls, thanks to the added cess charges.

If you are one of those who doesn't really like going out much, but like impressing your partner by gifting every now and then, there's bad news for you, too.

There's an added tax on expensive goods above Rs 2 lakhs. So, if you are buying something fancy for your partner, be ready to shell out more than what you were expecting to.

If you are thinking this will be your reason to ditch the diamond, and buy something else instead, that's easier considered than done. Imitation jewellery is also set to cost more as basic customs duty has been increased from 10 per cent to 15 per cent.

Buying a bouquet of flowers won't be cheap either.

And, what if you want to plan a weekend getaway because things are so expensive at home? Well, flights may get costlier since tax on aviation fuel got raised by 6%.

That's not all.

Even if you were planning to buy new clothes on a new date, Jaitley may have played a dampener.

Branded retail garments will become costlier as Budget 2016 has proposed a 6% excise on branded retail garments priced more than Rs1,000. Ouch.

This wasn't a budget for lovers. We can console ourselves because that extra pinch in your pocket will hopefully help fund a good cause. Maybe, now you can earn some good karma on dates, if not great romance.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.