Why there is no big announcement in the budget, understand from experts: Tax exemption on gold bonds now after 8 years; What changed for the taxpayer

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Finance Minister’s 85 minute long budget speech and accounting of Rs 53.5 lakh crore. It is very difficult for common people to understand this. In such a situation, understand from Bhaskar’s 3 experts 8 subtle things about the budget, which will impact your life and which are very important to know…

1. Balance budget came due to stable economy

Every time in the budget it is expected that some big announcement or scheme will be launched, but this time nothing special happened.

In fact, when there is a stable economy, the government does not make any major announcements in the budget.

India’s economy is growing at a rate of more than 7% and is stable. Last year, income up to Rs 12 lakh was made tax free, which benefited the middle class and employed people.

The budget size has increased even after not making major announcements. This time the budget of Rs 53.47 lakh crore has come with an increase of 7.1% compared to last year.

The government has focused on keeping the economy stable, increasing people’s expectations and their spending power.

2. Why no exemption to the tax payer?

Defense budget has been increased. Many schemes were announced but no major announcement was made for the tax payers. The government may not have the necessary space to give tax exemption right now.

The government has definitely said that tax related rules are going to become easier from April 2026. This has dealt a blow to the hopes of the middle class and retired people.

People also expected that the tax on fixed deposit i.e. FD interest would be reduced, but this did not happen. Presently FD is decreasing in banks, because more than 30% tax is levied on its interest.

In such a situation, people are investing more in mutual funds and equity. People expected a change in this but for some reason the issue was not addressed.

3. Will get more time to file and change returns

There has been a slight change in the date for filing Income Tax Return i.e. ITR. ITR-1 and ITR-2 filers will be able to file returns till July 31 as before. The limit for ITR-3 and ITR-4 has been extended till August 31.

The limit for revising income tax returns has been increased from 31 December to 31 March. However, if you do this after December 31, you will have to pay some extra fees.

If the income is less than Rs 5 lakh then the fee will be Rs 1000 and if it is more than Rs 5 lakh then the fee will be Rs 5 thousand. With this change the taxpayer will get more time to correct the mistake.

Honest taxpayers have been given an easy way to settle tax disputes. In this, the case can be closed by paying additional amount instead of penalty. This will provide relief from long legal battles.

4. Tax exemption on gold bonds after 8 years instead of 5.

Another change in the budget has happened in Sovereign Gold Bond. These bonds are a type of digital bonds issued by the Government of India. If needed, cash can be taken in exchange for these. Be it a bond purchased from the market or subscribed by yourself.

Earlier, investors could redeem gold bonds from the Reserve Bank i.e. RBI in 5 years. There was no capital gains tax on this.

But now tax exemption will be available only after the maturity period of 8 years is over. The discount will be available only to those investors who had subscribed to the gold bonds themselves and not to those who had purchased them from the market.

5. Market decline due to increase in security transaction tax

Securities Transaction Tax (STT) has to be paid on derivative trading i.e. investing on how much the prices of other things will increase in the future. STT has increased in the budget.

In fact, 90% of traders who trade derivatives suffer losses. In such a situation, the government has increased the STT on futures contracts from 0.02% to 0.05%, while the STT on options premium has been increased from 0.10% to 0.15%.

This will increase trading costs. This will have a negative impact on those making short term and continuous investments.

When this was being announced in the budget, the stock market fell. On February 1, Sensex fell 1546 points or about 2% while Nifty fell 495 points.

6. Semiconductor and Rare Earth Corridor Steps towards self-reliance

As compared to last year, this time the capital expenditure in the budget has been increased by Rs 1 lakh crore.

This will cost Rs 12.25 lakh crore in 2026-27, which is 22.8% of the total budget. The central government has been continuously increasing capital expenditure for the last 5 years.

Through capital expenditure, infrastructure, roads, highways, assets etc. are built in the country, which creates new employment and business opportunities.

At the same time, a new scheme of Rs 40 thousand crore was brought for electronic manufacturing. This includes the semiconductor project ‘ISM 2.0’. Currently 90% of semiconductor production takes place in Taiwan.

Apart from this, it was announced to build Rare Earth Minerals Corridor in Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Right now the whole world is dependent on China for rare earth elements.

It has become clear from the budget that India wants to reduce dependence on Taiwan and China for semiconductors and rare earth minerals and is moving towards becoming self-reliant.

7. Stock market will become stable due to increase in foreign investment

Persons Resident Outside India i.e. PROIs can now invest in Indian listed companies through the approved route.

This is likely to increase foreign investment in the Indian stock market. Market liquidity will improve and the environment for equity investors may become more stable and positive in the long term.

8. Cancer treatment will be cheaper

Basic custom duty has been removed on 17 medicines for cancer patients. This may make some essential cancer medicines cheaper. The overall cost of cancer treatment is also expected to reduce.

Other special things…

In case of an accident while driving, you get compensation from the Motor Accident Claim Tribunal. Now income tax will not have to be paid on the interest received on this, nor will any TDS be deducted. Accident victims and their families will get the entire interest amount without any tax deduction.

TCS on overseas tour packages and funds sent for the purpose of education and treatment under LSR has been reduced to 2%. This will reduce cash blockage and the dependency on claiming refund in ITR later.

Share buyback will now be taxed as capital gains instead of dividend income. Additional buyback tax will be imposed on promoters. Earlier, the entire buyback amount was taxable as per the income tax slab, which was disadvantageous for the retail investor.

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Bhaskar Expert Panel…

Jayant Krishna: Economist and senior fellow at the American think tank CSIS. Has been the CEO of the National Skill Development Corporation of the Central Government.

Swati Kumari: Founder of personal finance platform Bwealthy. Has worked as a business journalist in many media houses.

Balwant Jain: Tax, personal finance and investment expert. More than 40 years of experience as a Chartered Accountant.

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