Giving relief to individual taxpayers, the government today raised the income tax exemption limit by Rs 10,000 for general taxpayers, and by Rs 15,000 for senior citizens.

For general taxpayers, income of up to Rs 1.6 lakh per annum for men and Rs 1.90 lakh per annum for women is tax-exempt.

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Announcing these measures while presenting the Budget for 2009-10, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said his direct tax proposals are revenue-neutral and would not result in any revenue loss.

The present income tax exemption limit is Rs 1.5 lakh for men, Rs 1.8 lakh for women and Rs 2.25 lakh for senior citizens.

Mukherjee also removed the surcharge on income above Rs 10 lakh for personal income tax payers. The surcharge was levied at the rate of 10 per cent on income above Rs 10 lakh.

In another relief to the tax payers, the Minister raised the deduction for maintenance of medical treatment of dependence from Rs 75,000 to Rs 1 lakh. Higher exemption limit will help the taxpayers in meeting the medical needs of dependents.

Meanwhile, he also proposed to introduce Saral-II form to enable the taxpayers to file their returns without difficulty.

As regards the corporate tax, the minister raised the Minimum Alternate Tax to 15 per cent from 10 per cent.

The minister, however, abolished the Fringe Benefit Tax and Commodities Transaction Tax (CTT).

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