NEW DELHI: RSS affiliates have called upon finance minister Arun Jaitely to enhance income tax exemption limits to give relief to the middle class. They have also sought GST rebate for businesses with annual turnover up to Rs 3 crore.
“Direct tax collections have shown robust growth in recent years. The middle class needs relief. Income tax exemption should be given for annual income up to Rs 5 lakh,” Om Prakash Mittal, who heads Laghu Udyog Bharati, told The Sunday Standard. The current exemption limit is annual income of Rs 2.5 lakh.
Some other RSS affiliates, in separate discussions with Jaitely, have sought relaxations for the middle class, reminding him of the promise the BJP had made during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Mittal also said the government should make a distinction between large corporate houses and partnership firms which are engaged in small business activities. “In the last Budget, corporate tax was lowered to 25 per cent for those with annual turnover up to Rs 50 crore. We seek similar relief for partnership firms by introduction of slabs of taxable income on the lines of individual tax payers,” he said.
Incidentally, the NITI Aayog had advocated that the government should endeavour to bring in a large number of citizens into the direct tax net even if their tax liability is minimal. Laghu Udyog Bharati has also demanded that the government should bring in more amendments in the GST to cap tax on job works done by small/ cottage industries at five per cent, as against 18 per cent currently.