In the interim budget, set to be announced on February 1, the Centre may raise the tax rebate under the new income tax regime to Rs 7.5 lakh from Rs 7 lakh currently, a report by Mint said on Monday, citing people close to the discussions.
This would mean that a person with an income of Rs 7.5 lakh, after a standard deduction of Rs 50,000, will not have to pay any income tax from 2024-25. The report stated that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman may bring in a Finance Bill to make the changes.
The income tax slabs were reduced to six from seven earlier in a bid to make the personal income tax rules easier.
Earlier, Business Standard reported that a record 81.8 million income tax returns (ITRs) were filed for the assessment year 2023-24 till December 31. It was 9 per cent higher than 75.1 million ITRs filed in the same period in 2022-23.
The Centre has been focusing on increasing its tax receipts while lowering the tax burden. In the April-November period last year, the tax revenue rose 14.7 per cent, higher than the budget estimate of 10.5 per cent for direct taxes and 10.45 per cent for indirect taxes.
Last week, a report by the news agency PTI quoted Deepak Mohanty, chairperson of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority, as saying that the body has recommended employer contributions to the National Pension Scheme up to 12 per cent to be exempted from the income tax.
Visit www.cagurujiclasses.com for practical courses
