Narayan Paga, Dharawad

LEAVE MORE MONEY IN THE HANDS OF THE TAX PAYER

It is budget time again and the Finance Minister has one more chance to come to the help of the ‘aam tax payer’. Since the last time he presented the budget there has been a sea-change in the economic situation. The ‘aam tax payer’s’ budget has turned topsy-turvy due to the unprecedented price rise of food articles as well as of other necessities of life. Hence there is an urgent need to take necessary steps to leave more money at the hands of the’ aam tax payer.’Threshold limit: The current threshold limit of Rs 1.60 lakhs is woefully low in the context of present price rise situation. Since most of the prices of the commodities the common man uses on a day to day basis have doubled, the threshold limit should also be nearly doubled to around Rs 3.0 lakhs, to take care of the increased burden on the budget of the common man.Standard deduction: Salaried class of tax payers is one of the most sincere and prompt tax playing sections of the society. This class needs some special and favorable treatment by the Finance Minister. The ‘standard deduction’ which was earlier available only to the salaried class should be reintroduced. The limit for standard deduction should be 3 months gross salary or Rs 1 lakh whichever is lower.80C deductions: Present deduction of Rs 1lakh is extremely low to take care of all the savings requirements of the individual like savings for children’s marriage, their education, one’s own pension, one’s own need for huge medical expenses at a later stage in life etc. Therefore the limit for deductions under 80CCC should be raised to Rs 2 lakhs.Deduction for educational expenses: Educational expenses have been rising by leaps and bounds, of late. Cost professional education like that of medical, engineering, management etc has reached beyond the means of ‘aam tax payer’. Therefore all the expenses incurred on professional education should be made directly deductible from the gross income. This deduction should also include the hostel expenses as the tax payers of small towns and rural areas are compelled to send their children to other places for the sake of quality higher educationPensioners: Pensioners are the most vulnerable sections of the society. Their income is very limited but their medical expenses are very high. Besides they do not have a longer future life. Therefore to enable them to lead their limited balance of life peacefully and without any hassles of income tax, all the pensioners should be exempt from not only paying income tax but also from submitting of any kinds of returns.Abolishing TDS: standard deduction’ TDS on the interest paid by the banks and other financial institutions is causing huge inconvenience not only to the investors but also to the banks. Insisting on PAN cards from the non tax paying customers as well as aged persons, widows etc is resulting in acute to them. In fact many people are thinking of withdrawing their deposits from the banks. Hence the TDS should be completely abolished.

NARAYAN PAGA