Budget 2025 expectations: Will FM Sitharaman revise income tax slabs today?

The budget speech will outline the government's fiscal policies, revenue and expenditure proposals, taxation reforms, and other significant announcements. Ahead of the budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday hinted at the possibility of a generous budget for the poor and middle classes.

“I pray to Goddess Lakshmi that the poor and the middle-class sections in the country are blessed by her,” Modi said while speaking to reporters outside the parliament in New Delhi. The middle class is usually seen as being most invested in income tax rates, which come under the direct purview of the Budget. Income tax slabs in India have not been changed much since 2020, and there has been a growing clamour for doing so for two reasons.

Inflation has meant that higher slabs now kick in at much lower real incomes than what was the case earlier. The slowdown in the economy — India’s GDP growth went down from 8.2% in 2023-24 to an expected 6.4% in 2024-25 — has necessitated the need for policy efforts to boost consumption.