Take aways from the Union Budget 2024-25- Musings from an Insurance Pensioner

The entire nation heard the Union Finance Budget presented by our Honourable Finance Minister at the Parliament on July 23 2024.

- R Venugopal

As always, different view points emerged- some praising the Budget, some denigrating it and some in the via media.

Everybody is selfish. The question before each person is " What's in it for me?"

I am not an exception, neither a Buddha nor a Christ.

I am a simple insurance pensioner in the tax bracket of Rs 7 to 10 lacs. There may be millions of people like me in this category. So I am presenting this narrative from my and theirs perspective.

Some Gains Some Pains

First from the Income tax point of view-Standard Deduction increased to Rs 75000 from Rs 50000. With this, for income upto Rs 7 lacs, there is no tax with income upto Rs 7.75 lacs. For Family Pensioners, a happy news- Deduction increased to Rs 25000 from Rs 15000.

For employees, another cheerful information- Employer's contribution to NPS raised to 14% from 10% of the salary. Credit of all tax deducted or collected to be allowed while computing TDS on salary.

Angel Tax on issue of shares of unlisted companies at a price exceeding fair market value abolished from April 1 2025.

Timelines for tax Reassessment to be reduced from 11 years to 5 years from end of relevant tax year.