Taxes not increased because Govt wants more money: Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that her government did not increased taxes to fill its coffers but wants to ensure a uniform treatment of all asset classes.

“Taxes have not been increased because I want more money… The decision is based on the idea that every asset class has to be treated similarly,” Sitharaman said at an interaction with industry leaders at the ‘Budget Open House’ event organised by Open Magazine in partnership with CNBC-TV18 in the national capital.

Commenting on the query about the announcement of the change in the capital gains tax regime, Sitharaman said the taxes have not been increased with ‘a back of the envelope calculation’ or with the purpose that the government wants more money.

Budget 2024 Tax announcements

While presenting Budget 2024, FM Sitharaman announced that Security Transactions Tax on futures and options of securities will be increased to 0.02 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively and income received on buy back of shares in the hands of recipient to be taxed.

The government proposed to decrease the long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax on immovable properties to 12.5 per cent from 20 per cent. However, it announced to remove the indexation benefits to adjust for inflation. Experts have said that the move would have a “negative” impact for sellers.

Personal Income Tax under new tax regime

The government proposed to increase Standard deduction for salaried employees from Rs 50,000 to Rs75,000. Deduction on family pension for pensioners enhanced from Rs 15,000/- to Rs 25,000/-. Salaried employees opting for the new tax regime will be able to save up to Rs 17,500/- in income tax, FM said.

Revised tax rate structure:

 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that taxes have not been increased because her government wants more money.  Biz News Business News – Personal Finance News, Share Market News, BSE/NSE News, Stock Exchange News Today