'Reduce taxes on long-suffering middle-class taxpayers': Mohandas Pai to PM Modi, Sitharaman

Mohandas Pai said that NDA voters among the middle class are in great distress.

Padmashree awardee and former CFO and board member of Infosys TV Mohandas Pai has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to provide relief to middle-class taxpayers by simplifying and reducing taxes.

His comments come after the income tax department released data on direct tax (DT) collections and advance tax collections for FY 2024-25. According to it, the net direct tax collection grew 15.88 percent to around Rs 16.90 lakh crore so far this fiscal year.

"Very high growth in IT/CT collection for the third year.will be higher than budget again. Time for

finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to give relief, simplify, and reduce taxes on long-suffering middle-class taxpayers," Pai wrote on X.

Further, addressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he added that NDA voters among the middle class are in great distress.

"Sir, please give relief to the middle class in budget 25-26 suffering high taxes, high EMI because of high vegetable prices. Tomato, onion, and potato prices based on 2011-12 weights, a massive increase in school and college fees over the last three years," Pai said.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is slated to present the Union Budget on February 1 for the fiscal year 2025-26. This will be her eighth consecutive budget and the second full budget of the Modi 3.0 government. In what might bring cheer to the middle class, the government is likely to reduce income tax for certain individuals.

In the upcoming budget, the centre is considering cutting income tax for individuals earning up to Rs. 15 lakh/year in order to provide some relief to the middle class. This move will also help boost consumption at a time when the economy is witnessing a slowdown.