The finance ministry is considering increasing the tax exemption level for personal income-tax to Rs 2 lakh in the forthcoming Union Budget, likely to be presented in the middle of March, sources said.
“Actually the direct tax code, which was proposed to be rolled out from April 1, 2012, also provides exemption upto Rs 2 lakh,” a senior official said.
“But at this juncture it doesn’t look as if the direct tax code could be implemented as scheduled. But even then the tax exemption limit may be raised to Rs 2 lakh to give relief to taxpayers in the forthcoming Budget,” the official said.
As of now, male taxpayers are exempted from paying income-tax upto an annual income of Rs 1.8 lakh and women upto Rs 1.9 lakh.
With the proposed change, the tax exemption limit for both men and women might be uniform at Rs 2 lakh.
There is also an expectation of tax sops for the senior citizens. In the last budget, finance minister had reduced eligibility age of senior citizens from 65 to 60 and enhanced the exemption limit for them from Rs 2.40 lakh to Rs 2.50 lakh.