Status Quo: Govt’s 10-Year Report

The FM referred to income tax reforms such as the new simplified tax regime, filing of updated tax returns, introduction of Form 26AS, prefilling of tax returns, and more As Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled the Interim Budget for fiscal year (FY) 2024-25, taxpayers eagerly anticipated some relief on the personal tax front. However, the budget being a “vote on account”, did not propose any changes for both direct and indirect tax. Though this was expected, taxpayers had a sliver of hope for tax rate reduction or increase in deductions. Sitharaman provided a brief report on the reforms, on both personal and corporate tax fronts. She highlighted the increase in direct tax collections and the number of income tax returns filed which grew more than 3 times and 2.4 times, respectively, over the last 10 years. She referred to the reforms such as new simplified...