Union Budget 2022: Tax slabs likely to remain unchanged but govt...

 Union Budget 2022: Tax slabs likely to remain unchanged but govt may increase standard limit of tax deduction....

New Delhi | Jagran Business Desk: Union Budget 2022-23 is scheduled to be announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2022. Citizens across India are awaiting the annual budget announcements related to income tax slabs. While in the last budget – the first full-fledged Union Budget since the COVID-19 became a pandemic – there were no changes in income tax slabs, many corporate bodies have asked government to announce relief measurements to the tax paying population.

Industry bodies such as ASSOCHAM and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) have urged Finance Ministry to introduce tax relief measurements such as increasing the standard limit of tax deduction.

Reports have claimed that the government is holding discussions to increase the limit of standard deduction from the existing Rs 50,000. To how much the limit will be increased, remains unspecified.According to an Economic Times report, the standard deduction limit available to salaried taxpayers and pensioners may be increased by 30-35 per cent in the upcoming budget. The increase in limit is likely to be increased in the wake of rising cost of medical expenses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The income tax slabs, however, are likely to remain unchanged.

Who can avail standard deduction limit?

The standard deduction limit can be availed by the taxpayers who opt for the old income tax structure. The limit is not applicable for the taxpayers who opt for the new tax regime.

The standard deduction of Rs 40,000 was first introduced in Union Budget 2018 and was later increased to Rs 50,000 in the interim budget for 2019.

The only major income tax-related decision since then has been the introduction of the new tax filing regime.