When Dr Savita Joshi, 72, watched finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announce the budget on her mobile phone in Indore, a sense of relief overcame her. “After my retirement in 2015, this is the first relief for pensioners in the Union Budget,” said Joshi. “This budget was made sensibly to give relief to middle class families and senior citizens.”
The budget introduces several significant changes for India’s elderly: doubling the TDS threshold and tax deduction limit on interest income to ₹1 lakh, and exempting withdrawals from old National Savings Scheme accounts after August 29, 2024.
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SK Jain, 65, a shopkeeper from Bhopal, said the NSS withdrawal exemption would be of significant help. “Being a businessman, I made savings in NSS but it was very annoying that we should give tax on both interest and principal. The announcements on exemption on withdrawals made from NSS is a big relief for small businessmen and senior citizens like us.”
However, not all seniors are fully satisfied. “Those relying on EPF pensions continue to receive a meagre amount between ₹1,000 and ₹3,000, a limit that has remained unchanged since 2004,” said out professor A Srihari Rao, 65, a retired mathematics professor from Telangana.
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While welcoming the overall tax relief, others too expressed disappointment over specific provisions. “The budget has so many things that surely give us relief but in the old tax regime the exemption for super senior citizens was ₹5 lakh but this time it became ₹3 lakh for all senior citizens including super senior citizens aged 80 and above. We were expecting the increase in limit but it has been decreased,” says PN Goswami, 84, a retired audit department officer.
Tax consultant Roopendra Sharma elaborated on the practical impact: “Till now, senior citizens got relief from TDS deduction till ₹50,000 on interest received from banks and financial institutions. Now it has been increased up to ₹1 lakh on interest income, which means that for that much higher amount, they will no longer have to approach banks for TDS certificate and then claim a refund from IT department. That is is surely a relief.”
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For Lakkaraju Ravinder Rao, 63, a retired headmaster from Ranga Reddy district, other measures add value. “The provision of free health insurance of ₹5 lakh for senior citizens above 70 years is a commendable step towards elderly welfare,” he said. “Additionally, lower taxes on cancer medicines will ease the financial burden on patients.”