Budget 2019: No income tax on annual earnings upto Rs 5 lakh..Know your existing I-T slabs

Union minister Piyush Goyal in his 2019 interim budget speech in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday brought about a major relief to the middle salaried class by announcing a revision in the income tax slab of the lower and middle class income bracket citizens earning income upto 5 lakhs per annum.

Income Tax

New Delhi: Union minister Piyush Goyal in his 2019 interim budget speech in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday brought about a major relief to the middle salaried class by announcing a revision in the income tax slab of the lower and middle class income bracket citizens earning income upto 5 lakhs per annum. The Modi govt revised the tax exempt limit on 'Income from Salary' from 2.5 lakhs to 5 lakhs, thereby giving an additional 2.5 lakh exemption to the salaried class, falling in the income group upto 5 lakhs per annum ,  to save tax. However, there was no revision in the tax exempt slab for those earning income more than 5 lakhs per annum. In a nutshell, as per the newly proposed tax slab, the salaried class would not have to pay any income tax on ‘ Income from Tax’ upto Rs 5 lakhs. The government also increased the standard deduction from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000. The exemption on House Rent Allowance was increased from Rs. 1,80,000 to Rs 2,40,000. In the previous budgets also, the Narendra Modi led-government provided tax relief to taxpayers. In Budget 2014, the minimum tax-exemption limit was raised from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh. Along with that deduction, limit under section 80C was hiked by Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh and deduction on interest paid on a housing loan to Rs 2 lakh. Ahead of the 2019 general elections, many economic and political pundits had thought that the Centre shall bring about a revision in the tax slabs to reduce the burden on the middle class salaried workers. Currently, the citizens falling under the bracket of Rs 2.5-5 lakh bracket pay 5 percent tax. The government was considering giving a tax and procedural relief to this low-income group. Here is a glance at the existing income tax slabs for Financial Year 2018-19

• No tax for individuals with income less than Rs 2,50,000
• Rs 2.5 lacs to 5 lacs  - 0%-5% tax
• Rs 5 lacs to 10 lacs - 20% tax
• 10 lacs or more - 30% tax