Basing your financial planning solely on tax incentives is a recipe for disaster
On Budget Day, anchors and panellists on TV shows scream. Across the TV channels you get to see government officials, corporate captains, economists, analysts and tax experts following the speech live. These days, views and rants also trend on social media. After great gusto when finance ministers begin their speech with a couplet in the language of their choice, you know that it is time to listen to some serious music.
A little into an hour of the speech comes the most awaited segment— proposals on direct taxation. Listening to this section leaves the common man numbed with a general concern—what should I do now? This, of course, remains mostly unanswered as experts take it on themselves to eulogise the Budget as soon as the minister finishes reading out his speech.
This year, the Budget was pretty much a non event, with finance minister Arun Jaitley doing nothing wrong and leaving no section hampered by his actions. To give credit where it’s due, the dignity of the honest tax payer was liberally highlighted. By way of small steps, actions were taken to curb corruption and any possible fraud by taxpayers in the future.
There was plenty of room for feeling good for those in the lower income bracket, the youth, those in rural areas and women and, it also left something extra for every taxpayer in their wallet. Will this extra bring the small investor back into the stock markets? The shift towards digital money, financial inclusion and lower guaranteed, fixed return instruments on offer, is nudging towards financial assets.
The stock markets are already cheering the Budget presented by the government, but that alone should not be the reason to start investing in it. In fact, doing so will be as foolhardy as buying insurance just to save taxes. Basing your financial planning solely on tax incentives is a recipe for disaster. What you can do is make use of them; if not, don’t let the tax sops lure you towards financial disaster.