“Modi Government Recognised Honest Taxpayers”: Nirmala Sitharaman Exclusive

The government’s aim in this Budget was to extend support to the middle class, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told NDTV in an exclusive interview today, the day after presenting the Budget in Parliament and announcing major tax reliefs.

“Our focus is to increase consumption. The government always recognised honest taxpayers. Our aim was to provide support to the middle class. Those earning Rs 1 lakh need tax relief,” the Finance Minister told NDTV’s editor-in-chief Sanjay Pugalia in her first interview after presenting the Budget yesterday.

In her eighth consecutive Budget speech, Ms Sitharaman announced that salaried individuals with annual income up to Rs 12 lakh won’t need to pay income tax under the new regime. She also revised tax slabs under the new tax regime. Under the revised slabs, tax on income up to Rs 4 lakh is nil. Income between Rs 4 and Rs 8 lakh will be taxed at five per cent. Between Rs 8 and Rs 12 lakh, it will be 10 per cent. Between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 16 lakh, it will be 15 per cent. The tax rate between Rs 16 lakh and Rs 20 lakh will be 20 per cent. Between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 24 lakh, it will be 25 per cent. And income above Rs 24 lakh will be taxed at 30 per cent.

The measures, she said, will “substantially reduce the tax burden on the middle class and leave more money in their hands”. It will also boost household consumption, savings, and investment, the Finance Minister said.

According to the Budget document, the government will provide rebates to those with an annual income of up to Rs 12 lakh. For salaried individuals, this ceiling will be Rs 12.75 lakh, including the standard deduction of Rs 75,000. The Budget document has a table illustrating the rebates, starting from Rs 10,000 for an income of Rs 8 lakh and rising to Rs 80,000 for an income of Rs 12 lakh.

The Budget document has specified that new tax rates and the breather for those earning up to Rs 12 lakh a year are applicable only under the new tax regime introduced in 2020. This is in tune with the government’s push for this new regime that aims to simplify personal tax by doing away with the complications of exemptions. In a press interaction last evening, Ms Sitharaman clarified that the old regime has not been discontinued. Top government officials said nearly 75 per cent taxpayers had already moved to the new regime.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the Budget reflects the government’s commitment to fulfilling the aspirations of 140 crore Indians. He said this Budget would add momentum to the “collective resolve of building a Viksit Bharat”.

Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, criticised the budget and said the government was short of ideas. “A band-aid for bullet wounds! Amid global uncertainty, solving our economic crisis demanded a paradigm shift. But this government is bankrupt of ideas.”

The Finance Minister has also said a new Income Tax Bill to simplify the taxation of individual taxpayers will be introduced next week. She has said the proposed law will be tabled in Parliament.

​”Modi Government Recognised Honest Taxpayers”: Nirmala Sitharaman Exclusive On Income Tax Relief   

​NDTV News- Topstories