Union Budget 2026: No changes in income tax rates, slabs

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday presented her ninth consecutive Union Budget in which she announced no changes in the income tax regime for the year 202627 while the FM announced changes to Income Tax Return ITR filing timelines and introduced a rulebased automated compliance framework aimed at easing the burden on small taxpayers among other proposalsUniversity townships to girlsrsquo hostelsFive university townships in the vicinity of major industrial and logistic corridors girlsrsquo hostel in every district setting up of content creator labs in 15000 schools and 500 colleges and reduction of the tax collection at source TCS rate to 2 per cent for education are among the proposals announced in the Union Budget for the education sectorUnion Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman carries the digital tablet for Budget 2026 at the Parliament premises PICPTIThe sector has got an allocation of over Rs 139 lakh crore including Rs 55727 crore for higher education Sitharaman announced that the government will support states in creating five university townships in the vicinity of major industrial and logistic corridors ldquoThese planned academic zones will host multiple universities colleges and research institutions skill centers and residential complexesrdquo she said in her budget speechHealth sector gets 10 per cent hikeThe Union Health Ministry has been allocated Rs 10653042 crore in the Budget 202627 a 10 per cent hike over 202526 with the government proposing a scheme to support states in establishing five regional medical hubs in partnership with the private sector to promote India as a prime medical tourism destinationThese hubs will serve as integrated healthcare complexes that combine medical educational and research facilities Sitharaman said The FM said that existing institutions for Allied Healthcare Professionals AHPs will be upgraded and new AHP institutions established in private and government sectors For the first time the Union Health Ministry has allocated R1000 crore for the Scheme for AHPs The allocation for Ayushman Bharat has been hiked from Rs 8995 crore to Rs 9500 croreSHEMarts for womenTo strengthen the higher education ecosystem and promote womenled entrepreneurship the finance minister on Sunday announced a series of proposals including the construction of a girlsrsquo hostel in every district of the country and the setting up of communityowned lsquoShe MARTSrsquoThe Union Finance Minister also said that the government has proposed several measures to establish new institutes university townships girlsrsquo hostels and telescope infrastructure as part of increased investment in the higher education sectorldquoSelf Help Entrepreneur mdash SHE Martsrsquo will be set up as communityowned retail outlets within clusterlevel federations through enhanced and innovative finance instrumentsrdquo said Sitharasaid A Lakhpati Didi is a woman member of an SHG whose annual household income reaches at least R1 lakhlsquoAmbitious futuristicrsquoPrime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday described the Budget 202627 as ldquoambitiousrdquo and ldquofuturisticrdquo stressing that it will further strengthen Indiarsquos global role as its 140 crore citizens are not satisfied with being the fastest growing economy and the nation is determined to soon become the worldrsquos third largest economyModi said this was a unique budget which focused on reducing fiscal deficit and controlling inflation while simultaneously ensuring high capital expenditure and high growth ldquoThis Budget strengthens Indiarsquos global role anew Indiarsquos 140 crore citizens are not satisfied with being the fastest growing economy and the nation is determined to soon become the worldrsquos third largest economyrdquo he saidSensex Nifty crash nearly 237Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty dived sharply by nearly 2 per cent on Sunday after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed a hike in the Securities Transaction Tax STT on derivativesReversing the early gains the 30share BSE Sensex plunged sharply by 237036 points or 288 per cent to slide below the 80000mark at 7989942 in afternoon trade as the finance minister announced a hike in STT on futures contracts to 005 per cent from the current 002 per centThe barometer settled at 8072294 down 154684 points or 188 per cent The 50share NSE Nifty tanked 49520 points or 196 per cent to settle at 2482545 During the day it tumbled 7489 points or 295 per cent to 2457175Income tax regimeUnder the new income tax regime for FY 2026ndash27 income up to Rs 4 lakh is fully exempt due to basic exemption A key feature of the new tax regime is the rebate under Section 87A which effectively reduces tax liability to zero for individuals with income up to Rs 12 lakh Salaried taxpayers also benefit from a standard deduction of Rs 75000Rebate amp zero tax Increased rebate under Section 87A ensures no tax for income up to Rs 12 lakhDeductions Limited deductions primarily standard deduction are available compared to the old regimeNew tax slabs FY 2026ndash27Up to Rs 4 lakh NilRs 4 lakh to Rs 8 lakh 537Rs 8 lakh to Rs 12 lakh 1037Rs 12 lakh to Rs 16 lakh 1537Rs 16 to Rs 20 lakh 2037Rs 20 lakh to Rs 24 lakh 2537Above Rs 24 lakh 3037This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever