Business Standard / New Delhi Sep 01, 2010, 00:36 IST
Despite many protests to the contrary, the government has done the right thing in bringing income tax for women on a par with the rate for men in the new direct taxes code. It is illogical for working women to demand affirmative action in taxation when they are lobbying for gender equality in the workplace. Educated women should understand that such differentiation doesn’t achieve anything for them. Instead, it enhances the propensity to discriminate and masks the reality of an urgent social problem.
Additional tax exemption (currently, Rs.30k) to employed woman is justified and should not be withdrawn. They incur additional expenditure on employing domestic help, including for babysitting. "Gender equality in the workplace" and tax exemtion for a specific purpose should not be mixed up.
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