Budget 2024 Expectation: Key Announcements Anticipated from FM Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on February 1, 2024. This will be an interim budget. The new government that will be formed after the Lok Sabha elections in April-May will present the full budget for the financial year 2024-25. This will be Nirmala Sitharaman's sixth budget.

On July 5, 2019, she presented the Union Budget for the first time. This was the complete budget for the financial year 2019-20. Due to the Lok Sabha elections that year, the government had presented an interim budget. Piyush Goyal had presented it on April 1. After the Lok Sabha elections, the second government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was formed at the center. Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed Nirmala Sitharaman as the Finance Minister.

• Taxpayers expect increase in basic exemption limit 

The expectations from the sixth budget of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman are high. This is because this budget is coming a few months before the Lok Sabha elections. The expectations of taxpayers are the highest. Experts say that the Finance Minister should increase the basic exemption limit in both the new and old regimes. Currently, the exemption limit in the old regime is Rs 2.5 lakh per annum. In the last budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had increased the exemption limit to Rs 3 lakh in the new tax system.

• Demand to increase the deduction on health insurance

Experts say that the government should increase the deduction in Section 80D of the Income Tax Act. Under this section, income tax deduction is available on health policy. A person can claim a deduction of Rs 25,000 per annum by purchasing a health policy for himself and his family. This limit should be increased to at least Rs 50,000, experts say. If a person has purchased health insurance for his parents, then if the parents are senior citizens, then a deduction of Rs 50,000 per annum is available. It should be increased to Rs 75,000, experts say. Since the corona pandemic, insurance companies have significantly increased the premiums of health insurance. Keeping this in mind, the government should also increase the deduction.

• More deduction on home loan interest

Currently, a deduction of Rs 2 lakh per annum is allowed on home loan interest. There has been no increase in it for the last 10 years. Experts say that the government needs to increase it to at least four lakhs. This is because the EMI of home loan has increased significantly due to the increase in interest rates in the last few years. Due to this, home loan takers are facing difficulties. The increase in deduction on home loan interest will benefit millions of people. As a result, the inclination of people towards house purchase may increase.

• Focusing on capital expenditure will boost growth

The government has set a target of around Rs 10 lakh crore for capital expenditure this financial year. Experts say that the government should focus on increasing capital expenditure. Good benefits have been seen due to the increase in capital expenditure. When major economies in the world are struggling for growth, India's economy is growing rapidly. The GDP growth rate was 7.6% in the second quarter of this financial year. If the government allocates more funds for capital expenditure for the next financial year, the pace of economic growth can be maintained. Apart from this, there will be improvement in infrastructure.