Individual tax payers with income up to Rs 5 lakh taxable income will get full tax rebate, interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal announced. "Both tax collection and tax base have shown significant increase due to government initiatives in recent years, and we have moved to a moderate tax regime, with high collection," he added.
Even those earning Rs 6.5 lakh will not have to pay tax, if they invest in specified savings, Goyal added. The tax slabs, however, will remain unchanged. An estimated three crore middle class tax payers will be benefited from this move, he said. TDS on fixed deposits and postal deposits will be exempted for interest earned upto Rs 40,000 from Rs 10,000 currently. Exemption on TDS on rent has been increased to Rs 2.4 lakh. The benefit of roll over on capital gains upto Rs. 2 crore will be increased to investment on two residential houses. This benefit can be availed only once in a lifetime. Benefit under 80IBA of I-T Act will be extended for one more year for affordable housing.
The interim Union Budget 2019-20 was presented by the interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal before both houses of the parliament on February 1. He was presenting the budget as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been sidelined with an illness and Goyal, who also serves as Railways and Coal Minister in the cabinet, took the task upon himself to fill in Jaitley's sizeable shoes. Goyal, flanked by BJP heavyweights went through the motions of showcasing the budget in a briefcase before entering parliament for the mandatory cabinet meeting. The budget presentation began a few minutes after 11 am and Goyal delivered his budget speech in a mixture of Hindi and English. The initial points of announcement went without too much furore from the opposition and served as a highlights package of the NDA's near-five year reign at the centre.
