The Union Budget 2013-14 may offer some sops to salary earners and households as Finance Minister P. Chidambaram looks to balance the compulsions of growth and fiscal prudence with election year politics, as well as tweak tax laws to improve government revenues.
The salaried class may get some relief with the Budget likely to raise the income-tax exemption limit, which is currently at Rs. 2 lakh per annum. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance had suggested that the limit be raised to Rs. 3 lakh and other slabs adjusted to provide relief to people reeling under the impact of high inflation.
The Finance Minister is also expected to tweak schemes like the Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme (RGESS) to encourage individuals to invest surplus funds in stock markets. The effort would be to do away with grey areas and make schemes more attractive to first-time investors.
On the taxes front, Mr. Chidambaram is likely to incorporate some of the provisions of the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) in the tax proposal, besides announcing a roadmap for implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
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