Budget FY – 07 – From the eye of an aam admi

Salaried Class:

For humble taxpayers like me this budget had been pretty disappointing. Reduction in tax burden by Rs.1000 by raising the lowest slab by Rs.10000 is much lower than what was expected out of Chidambaram. With the average salaries of the country rising day by day this seems such an insignificant relief to the salaried class. Adding to the fuel has been the additional 1% surcharge for secondary education.

Raising the dividend distribution tax from 12.5% to 15% is another pain in the wrong place.

Senior citizens:

Tax burden for senior citizens have been further lowered by Rs.2000. Introduction of reverse mortgage sounds a very interesting possibility. By this scheme senior citizens can pledge their property to the bank, from the proceeds settle off any other loan pending in the property name and help themselves with the surplus cash. They may also get a regular income from the bank in addition to this. This amount may be increased based on inflation and the property appreciation. The mortgagee may continue to stay in the property for the rest of his life. The mortgage is settled after the lifetime of the owner/mortgagee. This may prove to solve the problem of the dwindling value of their hard earned money to an extent for the old people.

Companies:

Our IT industries have become market leaders and no longer need the tax sops that had been offered to them. This I believe is a welcome move to generate the needed funds. Removal of surcharge for Small and Medium scale industries is a welcome relief.

Physically challenged:

Incentivisation of employment of physically challenged people through the government bearing of the EPF and ESI payment due from the company for the first three years is a welcome move and help the physically challenged get more jobs than at present.

I have written about the features that had caught my eyes and have verified the details above with my limited means. Please let me know if I had been wrong somewhere and don’t forget to leave your comments.