Salaried people want tax exemption limit raised to Rs.3 lakh

A majority of the salaried class want the exemption limit for income tax to be raised to Rs.3 lakh from the existing Rs.2 lakh, a survey by Assocham has revealed.

Salaried people also demand increase in deductions such as on medical and educational allowances in the Union Budget for 2012-13, which will be presented at the end of this month.

Nearly 90 percent of the respondents said the slab of tax-free income has not moved up in line with real inflation. The current basic exemption limit of Rs.200,000 should be increased to at least Rs.300,000 with the limit for women going up to Rs.350,000, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) said in the survey report.

"Pushing the basic exemption limit helps 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 said.

The survey was conducted in all major cities including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune and Chandigarh. About 2,500 employees from different sectors participated in the survey.

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, 89 percent of the respondents said.

The transportation allowance granted by the employer to the employee for commuting between the place of work and residence is tax-free to the extent of Rs.800 per month.

This limit was fixed more than a decade ago, and definitely needs to be revised upwards to at least Rs.3,000 per month, given the rising commuting costs across the country, majority of the respondents in the survey said. - IANS