It's that time of the year again, when every Indian suddenly turns cautiously optimistic or positively pessimistic (sometimes both at the same time).
As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman prepares to unveil the Union Budget, armed with her famed tablet, the nation holds its breath. Will it bring tax relief or just creative new ways to remind us that there are no free lunches in life?
Social media is abuzz, WhatsApp groups are flooded with budget 'leaks' and chai stalls have transformed into makeshift Davos forums.
While some hopes are practical, pragmatic and productive, others belong to a Bollywood-style financial fantasy.
So, without further ado, let's dive into the expectations—starting with the ones we are too embarrassed to share..
The wishlist we all have
- Dear FM, consider a procrastination tax break: How about deductions for those of us who have perfected the art of submitting work at 11:59 PM? Let's rebrand it as 'strategic deadline management.' After all, diamonds are made under pressure, right?
- A humble plea for daydream deductions: We propose tax benefits for 'creative mental endeavours' during work hours. Those moments when we drift off to Maldives beaches during team meetings? That's not a distraction; that's strategic visualisation. Perhaps the proceeds could go to a National Reality Check Fund for when our dreams meet our bank balances.
- The great Indian laughter benefit: Here's a novel suggestion: link tax savings to our happiness quotient! The more we laugh, the less we pay. We could submit our collection of dad jokes as proof of our contribution to national well-being. Think about it—a nation that laughs together, saves together!
- Subsidise our boredom, please? Can we get some allocation for professional napping programs? We're thinking tax breaks for 'productivity restoration periods' (aka power naps) and meditation credits for staring at Excel sheets.
- A budget line for the extraterrestrial: Might we suggest a small fund for potential alien contact? We could mark it under 'International relations: Extended edition.' Plus, think of the cultural exchange possibilities—teaching extraterrestrials about jugaad could be our greatest diplomatic achievement yet!
While these might remain on our wishlist for a few more years, let's look at what we expect from Budget 2025.
The wishlist for what we actually need
- Relief for the common taxpayer:While some dream of no tax on incomes up to Rs 10 lakh, even a higher basic exemption limit under the new tax regime would be a win (Yes, our expectations are embarrassingly low!).
- Higher Section 80C & 80D Limits: We hope the exemption limit under Section 80C is raised. Same for health insurance deductions under Section 80D.
- Higher home loan interest deductions would also be welcome.
And of course, we need better roads, easier-to-understand GST and the continued push for agriculture, health and education reforms.
You can definitely do this, finance minister ji!
We wish this coming Saturday is a blockbuster instead of a damp squib.
Here's to hope!
Disclaimer: These expectations were crowd-sourced from Twitter (now X) and its chattier cousin Grok. We're just the messengers here, though we wouldn't mind that laughter benefit ourselves!
Other stories in our Budget 2025 series:
The 1973 Black Budget: India's bold economic leap
The Dream Budget of 1997: Simplifying taxes, igniting growth
1991: The Budget that changed India forever
The People's Budget of 2005: Building an inclusive India
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