Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has presented the Budget just for sake of presentation. Given the Direct Taxes Code and the Goods and Services Tax are likely to be effective from the next year, there was little left for the finance minister to do on the tax front. Though Mukherjee talked about inflation, corruption and black money, no concrete action plans have been presented to check inflation and eradicate corruption. Setting up task forces and committees is not going to help.
Imposing 1 per cent excise duty, mostly in essential commodities, will affect the aam aadmi, who is already reeling from high inflation.
On the income tax front, the minor exemption is not going to help. Also, setting '5,00,000 as the exemption limit for the new category of senior citizens above 80 years will be of little help since this will also include politicians and industrialists who can afford to pay taxes. Instead, this category should have been provided with some sort of social security.
Raj Bagri, Kolkata
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