Salaried class jubilant over income tax exemption

Hyderabad: The salaried class gave thumbs up for the Central government for increasing the income tax exemption from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh. The employee class has been demanding increasing the exemption limits for a long time with the rise in prices of various commodities. The employee said that the increase in the limit would bring a certain relief in this era of rising prices.

A BPO employee Rajiv Jopat said, "Firstly, I want to congratulate our finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on delivering the strongest budget out of the five that she has delivered annually. Particularly for the service sector, as we have been looking for improved tax breaks for the past few years. The best part was that zero tax for people earning upto Rs 7 lakhs and the increased exemptions for people earning more, compared to the old tax regime is a matter of delight for working professionals like him. Kudos to our FM and her team. Thanks."

The employees feel that the enhancement of the income tax limit would help in investment opportunities. L Seshadri, a private employee from Nalgonda said that the enhanced limit would help in investments. "The new rule will help in saving over Rs 10,000 and I will save this money for investing in Mutual Funds and share market. It is a good move after a long time," said Seshadri. Ajay Kumar P, an accountant in an IT company said that the government wants to do away from the old tax regime, which is more beneficial to individuals.

He said that there will be more benefits under the old income tax regime compared to the new income tax regime. He said that there is no mention in the budget about the 80 C, which allows some relief for the people for getting some rebate like the tuition fee. It has to be seen how the deductions will be allowed, he said.