New Delhi: With Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presenting the Budget today, the salaried class is expecting a standard tax deduction.
“Every employee looks to upgrade skills for self-development, depending on their work. Like when there was standard deduction 2004-05 they would expect some amount to be coming back. Like I have taken a course in HBR, which is online, and paid Rs 8,000 for a year. But that’s minimal. There are a lot of options but they are very heavy on the pocket. And you feel it’s not worthwhile at this point of time. Any relief is good relief,” said Sandeep Rao, Associate Vice-President, Sales, International Paper.
Standard deduction was introduced in 1974-75 for salaried employees, allowing them to claim expenses incurred in earning their income. It allowed a flat deduction of Rs 30,000 on salaries up to 5 lakh, Rs 20,000 on salaries over that figure. It was withdrawn in 2006 on the grounds that there was an equivalent increase in the basic exemption limit and 80C deduction.
“I request the Finance Minister to consider standard deduction while rolling out Budget this year. It will give great relief to salaried employees. It will help them in various expenses that they incur for their self-development. It will not only help individuals but the country as a whole,” added Rao.
Talking on standard deduction, Mukund Menon, Director of HR & Communications at International Paper, said, “Standard deduction is an amazing tool for the salaried employees. So it is very relevant now. We are moving towards Industry 4.0 and as a country, there is a need to acquire new skills. We can’t depend that a company will step in and train everybody. Salaried class is young, and primarily people in age group of 25-35 years will benefit. This is one good incentive that government should think about and bring correct mechanism to implement it.”
Professionals are still eligible to claim a deduction on expenses, leading to a disparity with salaried employees.
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