Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced that citizens above the age of 75 will be exempted from filing income tax returns, as she presented the Budget 2021-’22 in Parliament on Monday.
Under the proposal, senior citizens who depend only on pension will no longer have to file I-T returns. “In the 75th year of Independence of our country, we shall reduce the compliance burden on senior citizens,” Sitharaman said while delivering her third Budget speech in the Lok Sabha. “For senior citizens who only have a pension and interest income, I propose exemption of filing of income tax returns.”
Details of capital gains, dividends and interest from banks and post office will be now pre-filled in income tax returns filing forms, the finance minister announced. Additionally, non-resident Indians will be spared double taxation, and new rules will be introduced, she said.
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The minister also reduced the time limit for reopening of income tax assessment cases from six years to three years. For serious tax fraud cases where income of Rs 50 lakh or more is concealed it would be 10 years, reported The Indian Express.
Sitharaman said that for small taxpayers with taxable income up to Rs 50 lakh, a dispute resolution committee would be set up. The Budget also proposed to start faceless Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.
In her speech in Parliament, the finance minister said that this year’s Budget is built on six pillars. These are: health and wellbeing, physical and financial capital, inclusive development, human capital, innovation and research and development, and minimum government and maximum governance.
She announced a new health programme, the Pradhan Mantri Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana, with Rs 64,180 crore to be invested over six years. The minister also said Rs 35,000 crore will be spent for the development of coronavirus vaccines this year.
As for the macroeconomic indicators, the finance minister said the fiscal deficit for the current financial year is 9.5% of GDP. The fiscal deficit for the next financial year will be 6.8%, Sitharaman said.
The finance ministry also proposed to increase the foreign direct investment limit in the insurance sector from the existing 49% to 74%. The Narendra Modi-led government also said it will undertake new road infrastructure projects in four states – Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and West Bengal – that will go to polls this year.
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