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All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) General Secretary and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday criticised the Union Budget 2025 presented by Union Finance Minister in Parliament today and said that there was nothing for West Bengal in it and the budget was prepared considering Bihar elections in November this year.
Banerjee said, "When there were 18 MPs from BJP in West Bengal then also nothing was given to West Bengal. Even now there are 12 MPs from West Bengal in BJP but nothing has been given. The 12 MPs will never say a word. There is nothing for the common man in the budget. "Since there are elections in Bihar in November this year everything has been given to Bihar. They do nothing for poor people. When the budget was presented in July 2024, everything was done for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. For the last 10 years, BJP has been in power at centre and Bengal has not got anything since 2014, it is sad and unfortunate," he said. He further said that there is a lot of confusion in the income tax exemption for the middle class, as in that they have said above 4 lakh there is a tax slab. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during her Union Budget 2025 speech, announced that no income tax will be payable on income up to Rs 12 lakh, providing significant relief to taxpayers, especially the middle class. This limit will be Rs 12.75 lakh for salaried taxpayers, counting Rs 75,000 of the standard deduction. She also stated that the new income tax regime will be simpler, with a special focus on benefiting the middle class. But there is a catch: the exemption can be earned only if a taxpayer takes relief under various sections of the Income Tax Act, like the Rs 1.5 lakh exemption under section 80CCC and the exemption of Rs 1.5 lakh for paying interest on home loans. Sitharaman said, "To taxpayers, up to Rs 12 lakh of normal income (other than special rate income such as capital gains) tax rebate is being provided in addition to the benefit due to slab rate reduction in such a manner that there is no tax payable by them." The announcement by the Finance Minister of this big relief to the middle class was met by loud thumping of the desks by the treasury benches led by PM Narendra Modi. Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha was adjourned on Saturday following the presentation of the Union Budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The House will reconvene on February 3 at 11 a.m. (ANI)
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