Budget 2026 Income Tax - Will Salaries up to ₹13 Lakh Become Tax-Free? Standard Deduction Hike to ₹1 Lakh Expected

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

75% : Budget 2026 Income Tax Expectations: Income tax has always been the most important part of the budget.
60% : Tax experts and the salaried class are expressing their expectations.
59% : The middle and salaried classes are now waiting to see whether the government will offer any new income tax benefits in Budget 2026.
57% : In the last budget, the government provided significant relief to the middle class by making income up to ₹12 lakh tax-free.
54% : Salaried taxpayers are hoping for further relief in income tax and salary deductions this time as well.
54% : From Smartphones to Home Loans, Check full List What May Get Cheaper or Costlier After Feb 1 Salaried Employees Tax News: The biggest demand of salaried individuals is to increase the standard deduction.
54% : If this happens, salaries up to ₹13 lakh per annum could become tax-free under the new tax regime, providing significant relief to the middle class.
53% : This limit was even higher for salaried employees, as after availing the standard deduction of ₹75,000, the tax-free income reached ₹12.75 lakh.
52% : In the Union Budget 2025, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman exempted the middle class from income tax on income up to ₹12 lakh per annum.
51% : Currently, the standard deduction in the new tax regime is ₹75,000.
50% : Old Tax Regime: Up to ₹2.5 lakh - No tax ₹2.5 lakh to ₹5 lakh - 5% ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh - 20% Above ₹10 lakh - 30% New Tax Regime: Up to ₹3 lakh - No tax ₹3 lakh to ₹6 lakh - 5% ₹6 lakh to ₹9 lakh - 10% ₹9 lakh to ₹12 lakh - 15% ₹12 lakh to ₹15 lakh - 20% Above ₹15 lakh - 30%
49% : In addition, there is a growing demand to simplify and rationalise TDS (Tax Deducted at Source).
45% : Salaried individuals want the TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) rules simplified to avoid frequent refunds.
41% : Middle-class families and salaried individuals, in particular, eagerly await the budget announcement to see if their tax burden will be reduced.

*Our bias meter rating uses data science including sentiment analysis, machine learning and our proprietary algorithm for determining biases in news articles. Bias scores are on a scale of -100% to 100% with higher negative scores being more liberal and higher positive scores being more conservative, and 0% being neutral. The rating is an independent analysis and is not affiliated nor sponsored by the news source or any other organization.