 "Union Budget 2024: PM Narendra Modi to meet top economists on July 11")
Union Budget 2024: With the Union Budget 2024-25 just a week away, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will convene a meeting with leading economists on Thursday to discuss critical fiscal strategies, according to a senior government official.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the present on July 23.
At the key meeting, economists and industry experts as well as Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Suman Bery will present their views and recommendations regarding the Budget.
Sitharaman concludes pre-budget talks
This comes days after Sitharaman concluded her pre-budget discussions with 120 invitees, 10 stakeholder groups on July 7.
Representatives from various sectors including health, agriculture, energy and infrastructure, education, micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) among others met with Sitharaman over several days to share their views and expectations from the Budget, which will be the first under the third term of Modi.
Some recommendations by experts that have particularly resonated with middle-income families include a proposal to provide tax relief.
Centre may ease taxpayers’ burden
There are unconfirmed reports that the Centre may ease the tax burden on taxable earning individuals in a bid to boost consumption.
Some reports indicate that the Centre could revise the basic exemption limit and the standard deduction on income tax, a move that could bring significant relief to taxpayers.
There is an expectation that the Finance Ministry could increase the standard deduction limit to Rs 1 lakh from the existing Rs 50,000.
Industry experts recommend that the Centre should consider raising the threshold for the 30 per cent tax bracket from Rs 15 lakh to at least Rs 20 lakh, potentially reducing the tax burden for high-income earners.
There is also an increasing demand to rationalise the capital gains taxes. Investors would be watching out for announcements related to the same as experts have recommended to the finance ministry that the tax structure on capital gains should be simplified.
At present, capital gains are taxed based on the type of asset and the period of holding, which the experts label as ‘confusing’ and have sought a more uniform method.