Bigger I-T exemption to benefit the 'great Indian middle class': Jaitley
February 01, 2019 19:08
Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said the government's decision to exempt income of up to Rs 5 lakh from tax will benefit the "great Indian Middle Class".
The significant announcement made by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal in his Interim Budget 2019-20 speech will strengthen the purchasing power of the middle class which holds the key for India's future, Jaitley wrote in a Facebook post.
Goyal, who was recently given the charge of the finance ministry temporarily, presented the Budget for 2019-20 in the absence of Jaitley, who is away in New York for medical treatment.
"Piyush Goyal has today made a significant announcement wherein income earners earning upto Rs 5 lakhs have been exempted from payment of Income-tax.
"This effectively strengthens the great Indian Middle Class whose expansion of purchasing power holds the key for India's future," Jaitley said.
He further said the budget marks a high point in the policy directions that the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given to the nation.
Jaitley noted that interim budgets are presented in an election year to seek a vote on account for a limited period till the post-election government can decide the further direction of the economy.
However, he added that past precedents have conclusively shown that urgent steps are required in the larger interests of the economy and they can be taken.
"We have the immediate precedents of the year 2009 and 2014 where significant taxation changes were brought about in the Interim Budgets," Jaitley pointed out.
In an apparent reference to the raging controversy over jobs, Jaitley wondered how the Indian economy can grow at an average of 7.5 per cent in the last five years without any job creation. -- PTI
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