With Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set to present the budget in two days, the expectations of the middle class have increased.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Budget 2023 on February 1. And since this is the last full budget of the current Prime Minister Modi government, the expectations on this budget are high. Especially, the grassroots people, industrialists and wage earners are looking forward to this budget. Like the previous budgets, the Union Budget 2023-24 will also be presented in a paperless format. In that way, it is expected that there will be a change in the fields of information technology, agriculture, economic development, employment, production, public welfare programs and tax exemption.
With inflation increasing day by day in the country, there is an expectation among the middle class that the central government will provide tax exemption in this year’s budget. Individual taxpayers, being the major segment of direct tax collections, expect more tax incentives. It is also said to help the middle class to cope with additional expenses. Economists suggest that since every individual is subject to the same income tax bracket rates, women will have unique income tax brackets or exemptions.
In particular, the middle class is looking for a change in the definition of metro cities on housing rent and additional income tax concessions to enable home ownership. Like home loan, personal loan and health insurance are also looking for tax benefits. In other words, they expect them to get income tax benefits like education loan interest.
Also, they expect to increase the personal income tax concession from Rs.2.5 lakh to at least Rs.3 lakh – Rs.4 lakh. Similarly, the current standard deduction limit of Rs.50,000 will be Rs. It is also expected to be raised to 1 lakh. There is also a demand to raise the 80D cap on medical insurance premium for senior citizens from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh. Economists have also said that some relief should be allowed to individual taxpayers who set up a work-from-home (WFH) office at home. As this trend has increased after the corona pandemic, so has the expectation of offers.