Shifting to optional tax slab will benefit taxpayers: Official

Taxpayers willing to migrate to the new personal income tax regime announced in the Union Budget for 2020-21 will get more benefits than the older system, a senior official said on Monday.

Multiple layers of deductions and exemptions add to the complexity of the Income Tax Act, Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (West Bengal and Sikkim) B Jha said.

The availability of a new optional tax slab is a step towards simplification of the entire process, he said, speaking at a CII seminar here.

Jha said that as per current statistics, about 70 per cent of taxpayers avail exemptions of less than Rs 2 lakh.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has maintained that the new tax scheme will benefit some taxpayers falling in certain brackets, if not all.

Talking about the budget proposal of taxing non- resident Indians not paying taxes in any foreign country, he said it will ensure that globetrotting invididuals do not avoid paying taxes.