The Finance Minister, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, has proposed the following changes in Direct Taxes for individuals:

  1. Income tax slabs for individual taxpayers to be as follows:
    Income upto Rs 1.6 lakh Nil
    Income above Rs 1.6 lakh and upto Rs. 5 lakh 10 per cent
    Income above Rs.5 lakh and upto Rs. 8 lakh 20 per cent
    Income above Rs. 8 lakh 30 per cent
  2. Deduction of an additional amount of Rs. 20,000 allowed, over and above the existing limit of Rs.1 lakh on tax savings, for investment in long-term infrastructure bonds as notified by the Central Government.
  3. Besides contributions to health insurance schemes which is currently allowed as a deduction under the Income-tax Act, contributions to the Central Government Health Scheme also allowed as a deduction under the same provision.

These changes would help increase the money in your pocket, though not by much :)

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