Nirmala Sitharaman defends tax measures through Union Budget

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday while replying to the discussion on the Finance Bill in Lok Sabha said, «Without drastically increasing taxes, we have brought in a simplified taxation regime, eased compliance.»

Effective tax on annual income of Rs 15 lakh was reduced to 10 per cent in 2023 and further reduced this year as well under new I-T regime, said FM.
«The vision of PM Modi has been to establish a simple, efficient and fair technology-driven taxation regime in this country. So, simplification and ease of compliance for the taxpayer has been the primary objective with which in the last 10 years, and this year, in the third term of PM Modi, the approach to taxation has been to simplify it, reduce the burden on taxpayer and make sure it is transparent and Equitas,» said Sitharaman.

She added, «This year also, our approach has been that we bring in greater simplification of tax laws and procedures, and that we enable growth and employment in this country.»

The Finance Minister said the removal of Angel Tax has been a «relief» to startups.

Talking on tax returns, Sithraman said, «Average processing time of income tax returns has reduced from 93 days in 2013 to 10 days now.»

She said, a record number of income tax returns have been filed till July 31st 2024, about 58.57% ITRs were received from first time Income tax filers.

(More to come)