 "Budget 2024: Poor, middle class continue to get tax benefits, says PM Modi")
Union Budget 2024: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hailed the Union Budget 2024-25, noting that the poor and middle income groups have continued to receive benefits under the National Democratic Alliance government in the last 10 years.
PM Modi made the remarks about the Budget hours after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made her presentation in the Lok Sabha.
While talking about tax reforms, he referred to the revision of the standard deduction threshold limit and the changes in the tax slab rates under the new tax regime. In her address, Sitharaman announced that the standard deduction limit for taxpayers under the new regime would be revised to Rs 75,000.
PM Modi lauds job creation measures
“TDS (tax deducted at source) rules have also been simplified. These steps will result in additional savings for every taxpayer,” Modi said.
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He also spoke about the guiding principle of this year’s Budget of focussing on employment generation, and said that the various schemes announced for the sector has further strengthened the NDA government’s identity of focussing on job creation.
He further mentioned other announcements such as reforms in the MSME sector and noted that it would pave the way to make India a global manufacturing hub.
Rahul Gandhi slams Budget 2024
Contrary to PM Modi’s views, the Opposition, led by Rahul Gandhi, expressed their disappointment over the Budget announcement related to the middle-income groups and said that it was a ‘copy paste’ of the Congress Lok Sabha election manifesto.
Gandhi, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), said that the Budget provided no relief to the common people but only to the crony capitalists. He also said that the Budget was based on appeasement policies, referring to NDA allies Janata Dal United and Telugu Desam Party. Notably, in the Budget today, Sitharaman announced significant allocations to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, the two states where these parties rule.
How much allocation has been made for Bihar, Andhra
While Andhra Pradesh has got Rs 15,000 crore in financial assistance from the Centre, Bihar will be provided with Rs 37,500 crore for various infrastructure projects and bolstering flood mitigation measures.
Reforms in capital gains tax structure not received well
One of the key highlights of the Budget remained the increase in the capital gains tax, a change that has not been well-received by the general public. This tax applies to the income generated from equity investments. Following the Budget, social media handles remained flooded with comments criticising the finance ministry for increasing the short term capital gains tax (held for less than a year) to 20 per cent from the existing 15 per cent and long term capital gains (LTCG) tax to 12.5 per cent from the existing 10 per cent.
The minister also proposed to increase the LTCG annual tax exemption limit to Rs 1.25 lakh from the existing Rs 1 lakh.