Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is formulating a plan to implement the pension scheme for unorganised workers — Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan Dhan(PMSYM) — announced in the Interim Budget.
The PMSYM scheme will be rolled out soon, Goyal said in his reply to the discussions on the Interim Budget in the Lower House.
The Lok Sabha later passed the Interim Budget through a voice vote in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior Ministers. The relevant appropriation Bill was also passed.
The PMSYM will be available to unorganised workers whose monthly income does not exceed ₹15,000 and who have a savings bank account and Aadhaar number. This scheme — which is expected to benefit atleast 10 crore unorganised workers — would entitle every subscriber to minimum monthly pension of ₹3,000 after attaining the age of 60 years.
In his reply, Goyal also assured the House that “genuine” start-ups will not be harassed on account of the so called “ angel tax” provision. While genuine start-ups raising capital need not fret about the Income Tax Department, the Revenue Department will certainly go after those who use such vehicles to launder money, he said.
Several start-ups have been facing difficulties in recent times after the Income Tax Department started slapping notices (under Section 56(2)) on them for the capital infused in them by certain investors.
Middle-class friendly
Goyal said the Modi-led government has in the last five years given a much better deal on the income tax front for middle-class taxpayers.
In the last five years (since 2014), the government has taken the basic income tax exemption threshold limit from ₹2 lakh to ₹5 lakh (proposed in the Interim budget), Goyal said. In the entire 2009-14 period, the erstwhile UPA-II had raised its from ₹1.5 lakh to ₹2 lakh.
Also, the current NDA Government had brought down the tax rate for the ₹2-5 lakh income tax slab to 4 per cent from the earlier 10 per cent. “We also abolished wealth tax,” he said.
Goyal also pointed out that the UPA Government had done away with standard deduction for salaried taxpayers.
The current NDA regime has not only brought back standard deduction, but also raised it in the Interim Budget. Goyal also said senior citizens got a better deal on the income tax front in the current regime.