Handing out gifts to the middle class before the Lok Sabha elections in May, interim finance minister Piyush Goyal tabled the Interim Budget in the Parliament today to announce a full rebate in income tax for individuals with annual income up to rupees five lakh.
The minister pointed out that to enjoy this rebate, investments would need to be made in provident funds and prescribed equities by individuals whose gross income does not exceed 6.5 lakh per annum. With the standard deduction limit raised from Rs.40,000 to Rs.50,000, the rebate would help three crore taxpayers and provide benefit worth Rs. 18,500 crore, stated Goyal.
With the direct tax having risen from 6.38 lakh crore in 2013-14 to almost 12 lakh crore, the minister said that the taxpayer base had grown from 3.79 crore to 6.85 crore.
Goyal also promised that within the next two years all tax income returns would be processed electronically within a day. There would be no ‘personal interface’, he stated.
