Budget 2025 Expectations Highlights: Finance Minister to present Budget 2025 on February 1 – All eyes on IT exemption limits

Union Budget 2025 Expectations Highlights: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to present the Union Budget 2025 in the Lok Sabha on February 1 and the entire country, common man, business leaders, investors, are betting on a number of key announcements to be made by the FM. While as a traditional practice, the Budget will be announced on February 1, however, an official statement from the central government is still pending. February 1 this year is also falling on Saturday; while the Modi government has earlier as well followed the trend of presenting the Budget on a Saturday to facilitate smooth parliamentary discussions and avoid weekday disruptions, an official confirmation is awaited. 

In terms of key demand and expectations, experts said that income tax relief is one of the major areas that the finance minister needs to look at, besides the demand for tax holidays and GST exemptions by a host of industries. Per a Deloitte report, while the government has undertaken several commendable initiatives to reform tax landscape in India, and these reforms have strengthened the foundation of the tax system, there remain opportunities for further refinement to promote ease of doing business and achieve greater administrative efficiency. 

The finance minister is also facing the challenge of balancing fiscal prudence with the need to address key voter demographics. Recently, Nirmala Sitharaman finished her month-long consultations with industry and sector stakeholders that started on December 6, 2024. In a statement, the Finance Ministry said, “The consultations started on December 6, 2024. In the course of the in-person consultations, more than 100 invitees across 9 stakeholder groups, including experts and representatives from farmer associations & agriculture economists; trade unions; education & health sector; MSME; trade & services; industry; economists; financial sector & capital markets; as well as, infrastructure, energy and urban sector, participated in the meetings.”