Income tax returns-Budget 2019: From tax relief on housing loans to TDS on cash withdrawal, know these 5 things

Income tax returns-Budget 2019: The budget 2019 was announced on July 5 in Parliament with few changes on the tax front. The Income Tax slab rates for the major part of the tax-paying population have been kept unchanged, while a surcharge was imposed on super-rich. New Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a few changes to be made on cash withdrawals of over Rs 1 crore, while now there are additional tax benefits on electric vehicles and affordable housing loans too. So, even a the first budget of the Modi 2.0 govt.  was silent on effecting major changes in the tax regime, there are certain positive changes for the larger working class. 

Here are 5 things of Budget 2019, that a taxpayer should know:

1. Interchangeability of PAN and Aadhaar

Interchangeability of PAN and Aadhaar card to be allowed for ease and convenience to taxpayers. ITR can be filed without PAN by quoting Aadhaar 

Heena Arora, Marketing & Finance Head, All India ITR said, ''It extremely difficult to file ITR without quoting PAN since PAN is the unique identification number in which the TDS is reflected and there are still cases wherein PAN and Aadhaar have not yet been linked. Therefore, this implementation may take time and would not be successful in the current Financial Year.''

2. TDS of 2% on cash withdrawal exceeding Rs 1 crore a year

To discourage the practice of making business payments in cash, Finance Minister proposes to levy TDS of 2% on cash withdrawal exceeding Rs 1 crore a year from a bank account: 

''TDS should be levied on such huge transactions being made in cash. It shall benefit the government since it will be easier to track money floatation and movement of cash and will also increase the government at taxes,'' added Arora. 

3. Increase in surcharge on individual income of Rs 2 to 5 crore and above

Arora further said, ''Those in highest income bracket need to contribute more to national development. Propose to enhance surcharge on individual income of Rs 2-5 crore and over Rs 5 crore by 3% and 7% respectively. This will be fair to the poor and medium class and will contribute to the taxes in the economy by those who can afford to.''

4. Tax deduction on electric vehicle

In order to make electric vehicles affordable to consumer, additional income tax deduction of Rs 1.5 lakh deduction on loans taken to purchase electric vehicles.

5. Purchasing affordable house will get tax relief up to Rs 3.5 lakh on interest paid

''The salaried class cannot afford to buy a house due to the high-interest rate on housing loans. By lowering this interest rate, the government will encourage more people to purchase their own houses. Deduction in the rate of house loan interest will make the government’s plan of ‘Housing for All by 2022’a great success,'' Arora explained.