Budget 2023 for Salaried: The year 2022 has been very challenging for the people of the salaried class. Inflation had robbed the pockets of the middle class since the beginning of the year. Everyone has felt the cost of petrol-diesel, PNG-CNG to greens-vegetables, edible oil, milk-curd and flour-rice in the last year and till now there is no relief from it. In order to crack down on inflation, the RBI increased the policy rates and increased the repo rate, so inflation hit the houses of all those people who had taken home loans. The EMI of such people became costlier by 15 to 30 per cent.
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Taxpayer troubled by tax burden!
Sapna Sharma (name changed) is a salaried class woman working in a multinational company in Gurgaon, Delhi NCR. Sapna’s annual income is a little more than Rs 14 lakh. Sapna has taken a home loan and also invests for savings. After tax exemption on home loan interest and tax exemption on investment under 80C, his taxable income becomes Rs 10.25 lakh. Sapna is worried that in 2022-23, she will have to pay income tax of about Rs 1.25 lakh.
Sapna will not have to pay any tax on an income of Rs 2.50 lakh. But 5% tax on income of Rs 2.50 to 5 lakhs i.e. Rs 12,500, 20% tax on income of Rs 5 to 10 lakhs i.e. Rs 1 lakh and 30% tax on income of Rs 25,000 i.e. Rs 7500 left above 10 lakhs. Will happen. Means Sapna has to pay tax of around Rs 1.25 lakh including total cess surcharge.
Tax hits the middle class!
Sapna has an objection to the fact that the government collects 20 percent tax directly after 5 percent in the old tax system. And it does not even give tax rebate of Rs 12,500 if the taxable income is more than Rs 5 lakh. He also says that on taking a home loan, only interest payment of up to Rs 2 lakh is tax exempt, while he has to pay interest of around Rs 4 lakh every year. Tax has to be paid on the remaining 2 lakh rupees which she pays as interest. He also says that under 80C, tax exemption is available on investment of Rs 1.50 lakh and this limit has not been changed since 2014. Children’s tuition fee also comes in this.
Finance minister should pay tax burden
In such a situation, Sapna Sharma wants the Modi government and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to give relief to the taxpayers by reducing the tax burden in their last budget so that they can get relief from inflation. Tax slabs have been rationalized and the tax exemption limit on home loan interest has been increased from Rs.2 lakh to at least Rs.3 lakh. And to encourage investment, increase the investment limit to at least Rs 2.50 lakh to get tax exemption under 80C.
Sapna says that there is an inflation of food items and on top of that the prices of all essential items are increasing. The government has increased the tax burden on the people by increasing the GST on packaged food items. Children’s tuition fees are also becoming expensive. In such a situation, she wants the Modi government to present such a budget which will bring good days for the middle class who fills the coffers of the government and not push the middle class into the quagmire of more taxes.
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