The finance ministry today deferred the implementation of the general anti-avoidance rules (GAAR) by one year and announced a roll-back of the budgetary proposal to levy a one per cent excise duty on all gold jewellery amidst a slew of measures to boost business confidence.

He, however, seemed to be in no mood to offer concessions to Vodafone in its tax dispute with the government.

Moving the Finance Bill, 2012 for consideration in the Lok Sabha, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee also announced a roll-back of the proposal for tax deduction at source (TDS) of one per cent on the sale of immovable property (other than agricultural land).

The union budget for 2012-13 had proposed a one per cent TDS on every transferee of property worth Rs50 lakh and above in urban areas and Rs20 lakh and above in rural areas.

The finance minister announced a halving of the capital gains tax on private equity investors to 10 per cent in a bid to boost investment.

He also raised the threshold limit for collection of tax at source on cash purchase of jewellery and gold coins below 10 gm from Rs2 lakh to Rs5 lakh. However, he has kept the one per cent tax on purchase of all other gold items unchanged.