When Dr Savita Joshi, 72, watched finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announce the price range on her cell phone in Indore, a way of aid overcame her. “After my retirement in 2015, this is the first relief for pensioners in the Union Budget,” stated Joshi. “This budget was made sensibly to give relief to middle class families and senior citizens.”
The price range additionally exempted withdrawals from previous Nationwide Financial savings Scheme accounts after August 29, 2024. (Raj Ok Raj/HT Picture)
The price range introduces a number of vital modifications for India’s aged: doubling the TDS threshold and tax deduction restrict on curiosity earnings to ₹1 lakh, and exempting withdrawals from previous Nationwide Financial savings Scheme accounts after August 29, 2024.
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SK Jain, 65, a shopkeeper from Bhopal, stated the NSS withdrawal exemption can be of serious assist. “Being a businessman, I made savings in NSS but it was very annoying that we should give tax on both interest and principal. The announcements on exemption on withdrawals made from NSS is a big relief for small businessmen and senior citizens like us.”
Nevertheless, not all seniors are totally glad. “Those relying on EPF pensions continue to receive a meagre amount between ₹1,000 and ₹3,000, a limit that has remained unchanged since 2004,” stated out professor A Srihari Rao, 65, a retired arithmetic professor from Telangana.
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Whereas welcoming the general tax aid, others too expressed disappointment over particular provisions. “The budget has so many things that surely give us relief but in the old tax regime the exemption for super senior citizens was ₹5 lakh but this time it became ₹3 lakh for all senior citizens including super senior citizens aged 80 and above. We were expecting the increase in limit but it has been decreased,” says PN Goswami, 84, a retired audit division officer.
Tax marketing consultant Roopendra Sharma elaborated on the sensible affect: “Till now, senior citizens got relief from TDS deduction till ₹50,000 on interest received from banks and financial institutions. Now it has been increased up to ₹1 lakh on interest income, which means that for that much higher amount, they will no longer have to approach banks for TDS certificate and then claim a refund from IT department. That is is surely a relief.”
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For Lakkaraju Ravinder Rao, 63, a retired headmaster from Ranga Reddy district, different measures add worth. “The provision of free health insurance of ₹5 lakh for senior citizens above 70 years is a commendable step towards elderly welfare,” he stated. “Additionally, lower taxes on cancer medicines will ease the financial burden on patients.”