Union Budget 2016: Income Tax slabs remains unchanged

1/8

Arun Jaitley speech: Budget 2016 income tax relief – Arun Jaitley speech during Budget 2016 presentation in the Lok Sabha on Monday gave a little relief to income tax payers, but failed to live up to widely held expectations that he would hike tax exemption from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh, a move that would have put some extra money in the common man's pockets. But one of his income tax moves will positively affect as many as 2 crore tax payers. <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/article/budget-2016/union-budget-2016-live-highlights-income-tax-arun-jaitley-service-tax-gst-bill-7th-pay-commission-news/217358/"><strong>Union Budget 2016 highlights: Cigarettes, cars to become expensive; HRA exemption raised to Rs 60,000</strong></a>

2/8

Budget 2016: Meanwhile as FM Arun Jaitley was set to present the Union Budget 2016 on Monday in Parliament, Narendra Modi govt's third such exercise since taking over power from its predecessor UPA, it gives it an opportunity to turn around increasingly strident views that say India is no longer the darling of not just foreign investors, but even of common Indians who are starting to get worried about when the promised 'achhe din' will finally arrive – the country's economic growth rate is stagnating, government finances are worsening and direction of reforms is unclear, or tending towards the negative. So, in such a dire situation, will FM Arun Jaitley speech ease the fiscal burden of average citizens, notably individual income tax payers, as also of the corporate sector, is the question that comes to the forefront. (AP) </br><br> <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/article/budget-2016/union-budget-2016-live-highlights-income-tax-arun-jaitley-service-tax-gst-bill-7th-pay-commission-news/217358/">Tap here for live updates</a>

3/8

Budget 2016: On the income tax front, the Budget may continue with the status quo on the tax slabs while it just may tinker with the exemptions. There was widespread unanimity among experts that Arun Jaitley would hike income tax exemption from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh and all of them had said this as if reporting a done thing. However, Economic Survey has thrown water over some of these hopes as it has recommended that Income Tax sops must not be provided to the citizens and that instead the tax net should in fact be widened. (AP)

4/8

Budget 2016: The NDA government has seen the NSE Nifty slumped about 12 percent this year and around 24 percent from its record high of March 2015, helping to send the Indian rupee dangerously close to near an all-time low against the US dollar. Sensex is lower than it was in May 2014 when Narendra Modi swept to power with the biggest electoral mandate in three decades with a promise to deliver jobs to millions of youth and to transform the Indian economy. Foreign investors have also turned sellers of Indian debt with net outflows at $833.5 million. That contrasts with $54.6 billion in debt and equity investments over 2014 and 2015. (AP)

5/8

Budget 2016: In this regard, as also to what extent Arun Jaitley can go to in meeting the aspirations of the stakeholders, the Economic Survey that was tabled on Friday has already suggested re-calibration of expectations. At the same time, how many of the recommendations made by the survey — from rationalisation of distorting subsidies to bringing more people into the tax net – will the finance minister pursue is what is also being closely watched. (AP)

6/8

Budget 2016: "The importance of the upcoming budget lies in its message on the government's fiscal consolidation plans. Even if the budgetary consolidation continues, India's fiscal metrics will remain weaker than rating peers in the near term, because of the relatively high levels of deficits and debts of India's state and central governments," Moody's said in a report. (AP)

7/8

Budget 2016: India Inc has appreciated the candid posture of this year's Economic Survey and hoped that the recommendations made in it would be reflected in the Union Budget. "The Economic Survey has highlighted that India's potential growth rate is in the range of 8-10 percent and achieving the same requires a push in three critical areas which are promoting entrepreneurship and reducing the role of the state, and higher investments in health and education," said Harshavardhan Neotia, president of the industry chamber Ficci. (AP)