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Budget 2023: Tax relief measures for ‘Agniveers’, FM Sitharaman announces
Budget 2023: Last year, the Centre had unveiled the Agnipath recruitment scheme to carry out recruitments to the armed forces on a short-term basis. The government said the efforts were aimed at creating a youthful profile of the armed forces and train the ‘Agniveers’ for new technologies.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced tax relief measures for ‘Agniveers’, recruited to the armed forces under the ‘Agnipath’ scheme.
During her Budget 2023 speech in Parliament, the finance minister announced that the payment received by the ‘Agniveers’ from the Agniveer Corpus Fund is proposed to be exempted from taxes.
“Deduction in the computation of total income is proposed to be allowed to the Agniveer on the contribution made by him or the Central Government to his Seva Nidhi account”, Sitharaman added.
Union Budget 2023 LIVE Coverage
Last year, the Centre had unveiled the Agnipath recruitment scheme to carry out recruitments to the armed forces on a short-term basis. The government said the efforts were aimed at creating a youthful profile of the armed forces and train the ‘Agniveers’ for new technologies and improve their health levels. Despite protests which turned violent in some states, the Centre refused to roll back the scheme.
The finance minister also announced other schemes for the youth, including the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 to for skill development of lakhs of youths in the country. At least 30 Skill India International Centres will be set up across different states to boost skill development.
However, the biggest takeaway from the finance minister's budget was the increase in the income tax rebate limit from ₹5 lakh to ₹7 lakh. Sitharaman said the new tax regime will be the default tax regime, thereby reducing the number of tax slabs to five and increasing the tax exemption limit to ₹3 lakh.
