A survey was conducted in major places like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai,
Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Chandigarh and
Dehradun on ‘Budget 2013 Common man’s expectations from the FM’.
About 2,500 employees from the different sectors were covered by the survey from each city on an average. Over 89 per cent of the respondent said that the slab of tax free income has not moved up in line with real inflation. The current basic exemption limit of Rs 2,00,000 should be increased to at least Rs, 3,00,000 with the limit for women going upto Rs 3,50,000 Lakhs. This will increase the purchasing power of individuals and stimulate demand, the survey said. ‘Pushing the basic exemption limit the tax payers in saving taxes and will also align it with the proposals made by the Parliamentary standing committee on the Direct Taxes Code (DTC)’, the survey noted. With increasing healthcare costs, the existing tax free limit of Rs. 15,000 should be increased to Rs. 50,000, the same also needs to be considered in the Budget, said 89 per cent of the respondents.
