Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23, 2024, will present the Budget 2024. The Union Budget 2024 will be the first financial roadmap of India presented in the Modi Government 3.0. As a result, stock markets in India and even the world are buzzing. Many are keeping a close watch over reports and speculations that which sector will get how much funds. Now, the question arises what are Budget Expectations 2024, and what it may bring for the middle class of India? Below is everything you need to know-
Cybersecurity
Seeing the Microsoft Outage and its effect worldwide, the Central Government bolster its cybersecurity infrastructure. A news portal quoted Dr. Sanjay Katkar, Jt. Managing Director of Quick Heal Technologies Limited Katlkar said, "The government's commitment to innovation, evident in the one lakh crore rupees fund and fifty-year interest-free loan announced in the Interim Union Budget earlier. In addition, allocating nearly double for cybersecurity requirements in the government sector and further fortifying deep-tech technologies for defence purposes will further expedite atmanirbharta." However, to bolster India's cybersecurity especially to curb cyber crime that mostly affects the middle class, the government can mull to enhance India's cybersecurity.
Tax Relief
The biggest talking point before any budget is the tax cuts or tax reliefs. For the unversed, the standard deduction was first introduced at Rs 40,000 in the 2018 budget and subsequently raised to Rs 50,000 in the 2019 budget. The deduction amount has not changed since then. Apart from this, salaried persons can use Section 80C exemptions to reduce their taxable income by Rs 1.5 lakh in a fiscal year. Therefore, multiple experts have appealed for revising of the Section 80C limit, which has remained unchanged since 2014 despite escalating inflation rates.
