A new educational initiative has been launched to help investors navigate the complexities of budget terminology and understand its impact on stock market performance. The mini-series will run for 10 days leading up to Budget 2026, with each day focusing on a specific budget term or concept.

Educational Focus on Budget Literacy

The series aims to enhance investor understanding of budget documents, which serve as the primary instrument for articulating and implementing government fiscal policy. Each daily segment will break down complex budget terminology into accessible explanations for market participants.

Market Impact Analysis

The educational content emphasizes the significant relationship between budget decisions and stock market movements. Government fiscal policy announcements have the potential to influence various sectors of the economy, making budget literacy crucial for informed investment decisions.

Series Structure

The initiative will systematically cover key budget components over the 10-day period. The comprehensive approach ensures investors gain practical knowledge about how different budget elements affect market dynamics and sectoral performance.

This educational series represents an effort to bridge the knowledge gap between complex government fiscal policy and practical investment decision-making for market participants.

Tax experts believe the government is unlikely to increase the standard deduction for salaried taxpayers in Budget 2026, despite growing concerns over rising urban living costs. The standard deduction serves as a crucial tax relief measure for salaried individuals and pensioners, allowing them to reduce taxable income without requiring investment or expense proof.

Current Standard Deduction Structure

The standard deduction varies between India's two tax regimes, providing different levels of relief to taxpayers:

Under the new tax regime, which is now the default option, the standard deduction represents one of the few remaining deductions available to salaried taxpayers as the system moves toward a simpler, exemption-light framework.

Expert Views on Policy Stability

Tax professionals emphasize that policy stability appears to be a key government consideration. Sudhakar Sethuraman, Partner at Deloitte India, noted that the standard deduction for salary income was recently enhanced to ₹75,000 in Finance Act 2024 as part of broader tax-relief measures. He explained that given relatively stable inflation and the policy intent of keeping the new regime simple and predictable, the government may prefer stability in the near term.

Location-Neutral Tax Approach

Experts argue that India's tax framework adopts a location-neutral approach, making deduction increases based on urban living costs unlikely. Neeraj Agarwala, Partner at Nangia & Co LLP, emphasized that tax laws are framed uniformly for the entire country and do not provide deductions based on geographic location, whether urban or rural.

"While the cost of living is undeniably higher in certain metropolitan cities, it remains significantly lower in many other regions. As a result, it is unlikely that the standard deduction would be revised solely to account for urban living costs," Agarwala stated.

Future Considerations

The standard deduction continues to serve as a key tax relief mechanism for salaried taxpayers under the new tax regime. However, any potential changes to the deduction amount will depend on several factors:

• Inflation trends and economic conditions
• Government financial position and revenue requirements
• Overall policy approach toward maintaining tax system simplicity
• Evolving income patterns and work realities

Experts suggest that decisions regarding residence and settlement, despite cost of living variations, remain matters of individual choice, reinforcing the government's uniform tax policy approach across different regions.