Parul
Two out of three responders wanted FM to raise tax deduction limit under 80C in a survey by Mumbai-based financial planning startup on budget expectations.
Mumbai ahead of the Union Budget 2023, a significant number of retail investors want the finance minister to update the tax deduction limit according to a fresh survey by financial planning startup Kuvera. In the first week of January, Kuvera, the online investment and financial planning platform, conducted a poll among its users asking them of their expectations from the Union Budget 2023. Kuvera has around 16 lakh users at present. The poll found that more than two out of three responders wished for a raise to the tax deduction limits under section 80C of the Income Tax Act.
“Responders said they would prefer if the limit use doubled from its current Rs 1.5 lakh. The current limit hasn’t changed since 2014 and taxpayers are clearly expecting some relief from the upcoming budget,” said Gaurav Rastogi, co-founder, Kuvera. Another significant expectation of taxpayers, according to the survey, is making the scheme for switching from regular to direct of the same fund tax free. Three out of every 10 responders voted for this change. Currently the scheme is taxable.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2023 on February 1 and all eyes are on any tax sops that the ministry might announce amid rising fears of economic slowdown. While the government may be announcing new measures to bring down the budget deficit to below 5 per cent, fiscal prudence was not a top priority for taxpayers, the survey found. Less than one in 10 said they wished for the finance minister to reduce the budget deficit to 5 per cent or below.
“According to our survey, taxpayers, at least among our user base, were more interested in tax sops than the country’s budget deficit. With the fear of recession looming large, it would be good to announce tax relief and encourage people to save more,” Rastogi added.
