Presenting the Interim Budget for FY2019-20 today in Parliament, finance minister Piyush Goyal presented what was, as expected, a populist budget. While the focus remains on improving the lives of the agrarian community, there has been a focused attempt on reducing the tax burden on the middle class, small taxpayers, the salaried and pensioners.
As per the finance minister, “There will be a full tax rebate on individuals with up to Rs 500,000 income (zero tax). With additional deductions (through tax-saving investments), those with higher income will not have to pay tax. This can even go up to Rs 650,000.” According to Goyal, this amounts to a total benefit of Rs 18,500 crore and will impact 3 crore or 30 million tax payers.
Given this large segment of the Indian populace, it could be surmised that the additional savings could help them purchase motorcycles and scooters and also entry level passenger cars. In the farming community, the tax sops would lead to improved sales of tractors.