Here's what India's middle class expects from Union Budget 2022
The Union government has announced to present Budger 2022-2023 on February 1 at around 11 am. With this, India’s middle-class people are hoping for much-needed relief. However, at the time of pandemic and lowering economy, the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is unlikely to meet the expectations of Income taxpayers.
Here's a list of expectations of middle-class people from the Union Budget 2022-23.
Considering the never-ending Covid pandemic and a significant number of employees working from home, the salaried/middle-class people expect a deduction for home office expenses in calculating their taxes in Budget 2022-23.
In terms of cost, the employees certainly need support.
Employees in the middle class are considering moving to homes with greater personal spaces as multiple members of their family work from home and they need to accommodate online classes for their children. And for this, employees must make an additional expenditure in order to manage to work from home.
Also Read | Centre notifies drone certification scheme, Check details
In terms of tax, "the majority of respondents expect an increase in the basic income tax exemption limit of Rs 2.5 lakh." According to KPMG's pre-Budget 2022-23 survey, "respondents also support an increase in the top income slab of Rs 10 lakh and above, as well as an increase in the existing section 80C deduction limit of Rs 1.5 lakh."
As per the survey, 36 percent of respondents from the salaried/middle class expect the government to raise the 80C deduction limit of Rs 1.5 lakh while 29% expect the income tax limit of Rs 10 lakh at which the maximum marginal rate of 30% tax triggers to be increased. 19% of respondents expect an increase in the standard deduction limit of Rs 50,000 for the middle class.
Economists and the country's middle-class citizens expect Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to take a capex approach and spend on capital assets and infrastructure projects, rather than simply increasing allocation to rural-centric schemes.
Experts, on the other hand, advocate for the reintroduction of a wealth and inheritance tax to address rising inequality during the Covid pandemic.
For the time being, insurance companies want health insurance to be included in the 5% GST slab in order to make access to quality healthcare more affordable. They believe that lowering the GST on all personal lines of products from 18 percent to 5 percent will encourage more people to buy health insurance during these testing times.
Also Read | 46% girls under 15 anaemic in India, says study
-PTC News
