VISAKHAPATNAM: Notwithstanding the feel-good factor for the Union Budget-2017 presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament on Wednesday, Vizagites were of the view that more could have been done for the salaried class in particular.
The salaried class was expecting an enhancement in the Income-Tax slab from ₹2.5 lakh to either ₹3.5 or ₹4 lakh. That did not happen.
But the Finance Minister reduced the tax component from 10% to 5% for those in the ₹2.5 lakh to ₹5 lakh bracket.
“This is a welcome move,” said Chartered Accountant V. Chandrasekhar.
Earlier, the tax component for those in the ₹2.5 lakh to ₹5 lakh bracket was 10%. And a person drawing a salary of ₹5 lakh ended up paying ₹50,000 as tax. And now, after reduction, the tax payable would be ₹25,000.
‘Sizeable gain’
“This is a sizeable gain for the salaried class. For any slab, be it ₹2.5 to ₹5 lakh or ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh or ₹10 lakh to ₹20 lakh, the tax gain will come to at least ₹12,500 to ₹10,000,” said Chartered Accountant A.N.S. Rao.
For Deep Das, a chemical engineer who had taken up employment about two years ago and just got married, the tax reduction was a welcome sign.
“I am in the ₹2.5 to ₹5 lakh slab, and saving anything between ₹25,000 and ₹12,500 is a big thing. There are 1.9 crore people in this bracket in the country and most of the money saved will be ploughed back into the economy in the form of deposits or purchases. So it is a win-win situation for the government and the salaried class,” he said.
But for Ramesh Rao, a software engineer in a reputed software company, who is in the ₹10 lakh to ₹20 lakh bracket, a rebate of ₹12,500 was too small a gesture.
“There are about 24 lakh people in the country in this bracket and we expected a little more, especially after demonetisation,” he said.
Mr. Chandrasekhar said that the Finance Minister addressed the concerns of every sector, including the salaried class.
Huge allocations
“But what is important is the huge allocations he has made to various sectors, especially catering to the needs of the poor and rural India,” he said.
The allocation of 24% to the rural sector, 50% to housing, 35% to Scheduled Castes, and 25 % to the capital expenditure (capex) is a revolutionary and welcome move.
“If the promised amounts percolate down to the beneficiaries, India will soon be able to address poverty in a big way,” he said.
