The hike in income tax exemption limit by up to Rs 15,000 will definitely make the middle-class happy, but the high-income category — those earning over Rs 10 lakh a year — is in for a bonanza. For an individual earning Rs 20 lakh a year, the abolition of 10 per cent surcharge will lower the tax burden by Rs 4,420 a month.

Tax experts said the effect of doing away with the surcharge will be 10.3 per cent for the above Rs 10-lakh-income group since the education cess of 3 per cent on the surcharge will also go.

Source: Indian Express Link Below

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s bold gamble of letting the fiscal deficit slip out of his hands may still have paid off had he articulated a vision for economic reforms in the debut Budget of the United Progressive Alliance II (UPA II) government. A further fiscal stimulus of Rs 40,000 crore, through additional Plan expenditure for rural infrastructure, has pushed the gross fiscal deficit of the Centre (6.8 per cent of GDP) and states (4 per cent of GDP) to double digit levels for 2009-10, a throwback to the early 1990s.

Source: Indian Express Link Below