Fin Min contemplating sops for middle class

The Finance ministry is considering proposals to benefit the middle class in its last full Budget of the Narendra Modi 2.0 government to be presented on February 1 in the Lok Sabha.

The Finance ministry is looking into proposals sent by various government departments on specific steps which may be announced in the Budget, benefitting a large section of the middle class, sources said.

The government has not raised the income tax exemption limit from Rs 2.5 lakh which was fixed in 2014 by the then Finance minister Arun Jaitley in his first Budget.

Also, the standard deduction has remained at Rs 50,000 since 2019. Several experts are of the opinion that the exemption limit, as well as standard deduction, need to be increased to compensate the salaried middle class for elevated levels of inflation.

The recent statement of Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman that she was aware of pressures of the middle class has raised hope that some incentives may come for them in the upcoming Budget.