Page 13 - Seniors Today - February Issue

This year’s speech We have had an enormous number of
We now come to this year’s Finance Speech.
There is a big plan for disinvestment in this
year. This is necessary, for, as Harold Wilson,
former Prime Minster of the UK said, “The
Treasury could not, with any marked success,
run a fish and chips shop”!
The Government wants to raise Rs 1,75,000
crore this year. One of the enterprises to be
sold is Air India. We must note, however,
that the plan to disinvest Air India has been
discussed earlier, in the Budget Speech of
2019, in the Budget Speech of 2018 and even
as far back as in the Budget Speech of 2001!
It was then stated that Air India would be
sold in that year. Unfortunately 20 years
have passed and this has not happened and
the tax payers are the ones who have to bear
the brunt of the losses of the PSUs which the
Government has not been able to manage
well.
Another part of the Budget is the tax
proposals. Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan
Pandey stated, “There is a need to get out
of the mindset of tinkering with tax rates
in every budget and tax stability will be
achieved by keeping rates unchanged.” This
is a good sentiment but should it not apply to
the provisions of law as well? Even if the tax
rates remain constant, if the provisions of law
change, the desired stability is not achieved.
Relief from filing income tax returns has been provided for
senior citizens, but it is limited in scope and will benefit
only a few
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #20 | FEBRUARY 2021
amendments to the Income tax Act in the past
two years and one day from February 1, 2019
upto February 1, 2021.
The number of amendments proposed or
enacted is as under:-
2019 Finance Bill - 86
2019 Finance Bill No.2 - 67
2019 Taxation Laws Amendment Act – 8
2020 Finance Bills – 103
2020 Taxation and other laws (Relaxation
and Amendment of certain provisions) Act,
2020 - approx. 40.
2021 Finance Bill - 78
This comes to a total of about 382
amendments proposed or enacted in just the
last 2 years!
Key amendments
Let us consider some of the amendments
proposed in this year’s Finance Bill.
SENIOR CITIZENS The proposal is that
a person of more than 75 years of age, at
any time during the financial year, who has
income only from:
(a) Pension; and
(b) Interest from a specified bank, being the
same bank in which the pension is deposited,
may file a Declaration with the bank and will
then not have to file an Income-tax Return.
Please note however, the various conditions.
This will not apply to every Scheduled Bank
or every Nationalised Bank, but only to banks
which have been specifically approved for
this purpose.
Also, if a senior citizen has accounts in two
or more banks, he or she will not be entitled to
avoid filing returns. If the Senior Citizen has
any income from shares or Mutual Funds,
then also this exemption will not be available.
In any case, a Declaration will have to be
given to the bank concerned and it will deduct
the appropriate amount of tax and then the
13