Budget 2026 Expectations: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget today, February 1st. This will be her record ninth consecutive budget. The budget will be presented in Parliament at 11 AM. People have very high expectations for Budget 2026. There is some hope of relief in GST. It’s worth noting that this will be the first time in the country’s history that the budget is being presented on a Sunday. The entire country is watching this budget closely. It is anticipated that some special announcements may be made for every section of society. So, let’s look at the major announcements that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman might make…
Income Tax
In last year’s budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that there would be no tax on an annual income of up to ₹12 lakh under the new tax regime. Salaried employees also received the benefit of a standard deduction of ₹75,000. However, many taxpayers are still outside this category and are still using the old tax regime. Therefore, it is expected that the exemption limit might be increased to ₹12 to ₹14 lakh per annum.
Read More:- LPG Price Hike– Before budget, Government increased the price of LPG cylinder by Rs 50.
Read More:- Budget 2026 – Railway Budget to Hit ₹2.8 Lakh Crore? FM to Unveil 6G Incentives
TDS Deduction
In Budget 2025, the government made a major announcement regarding TDS deduction for senior citizens. The TDS deduction limit was increased from ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh. The limit for rental income was increased from ₹2.40 lakh to ₹6 lakh per year. However, there is now a demand to increase this to ₹10 lakh per year. For senior citizens, there is a demand to increase the deduction limit from ₹1 lakh to ₹2 lakh per year.
Gold and Silver
In recent times, there has been a tremendous surge in the prices of gold and silver. Silver is above ₹3 lakh, and gold has crossed ₹1.5 lakh. It has become very difficult for the common man to buy gold jewellery. For this reason, jewellers are demanding that the government reduce the import duty on gold and silver and lower the GST rate.
What announcements for farmers?
Currently, Rs 6,000 is given annually under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. Farmers hope this limit will be increased to Rs 12,000 so they can receive more support for their farming.
Concessions for senior citizens:
Before COVID-19, senior citizens received concessions when booking railway train tickets, but this facility has now been discontinued. There is a demand to reinstate this benefit.