Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

New tax proposals

Sir,— While accepting and implementing the changes proposed by the Task Force on Direct Taxes, it is hoped the Finance Minister will ensure that they operate evenly on the non-salaried and salaried income groups and senior citizens. One group should not be better off than the rest with reference to the status quo. Viewed from this point, for senior citizens, the exemption limit should be not less than Rs. 1.25 lakhs. Even in the case of salaried employees an exemption limit higher than Rs. 1 lakh should be thought of, as the standard deduction as well as the rebate on all savings schemes are proposed to be withdrawn altogether.

S. Krishnan,

Mysore

Sir,— In your Editorial as well as the article by Mr. Alok Mukherjee (Nov. 7), there is no mention of withdrawal of exemption under section 88-B (tax rebate of maximum of Rs. 15,000 for senior citizens). A simple calculation will show that while a senior citizen getting a total income of Rs. 1,30,000 a year by way of pension and interest including Rs. 9,000 from government securities, will be liable to pay a tax of Rs. 13,800 if all exemptions are withdrawn at one stroke. It is, indeed, a draconian measure.

V. Nagarajan,

Chennai

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