New Delhi, Jan. 28 -- With the union Budget just three days away, the familiar hum of middle-class anxiety has returned to the capital, accompanied by a rising chorus of tax experts urging the government to ease the pressure on salaried taxpayers.
At the centre of the debate is the long-standing demand to raise the threshold for the 30 per cent income tax slab and index it to inflation, a move widely seen as overdue in an economy where prices have outpaced pay packets.
Under the new tax regime, the highest tax rate now applies at income levels that many professionals say no longer qualify as "rich." Economists argue that inflation has quietly pushed ordinary earners into higher brackets, resulting in a stealth tax increase through what is...