Mint Budget poll: Old or new tax regime? More jobs? More 80C relief? Here's the verdict

(An advance copy of this survey's report was presented to the finance minister.)

At the broad policy level, the poll observed a preference for short-term government planning over long-term ambitious goals. Respondents were divided on their view on populist measures to spur growth, with varying opinions across demographics.

Job creation was a high priority. There was widespread dissatisfaction with recent changes to income tax slabs, particularly among salaried professionals. Additionally, opinions on the old versus new tax regimes were mixed, with many favouring the old system (which allows exemptions but levies a higher tax rate), while a large number are hoping for more exemptions under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act.

The poll received 7,051 responses.

Future focus

India’s ambitious goals for 2047, when it marks 100 years of Independence, have been the flavour of policymaking the last few years. But nearly 54% of the respondents wanted the government to plan for the immediate future rather than setting long-term goals.

Breaking it down, 44% of those who answered the survey said the government should aim for the next five years while setting budget priorities, while nearly one in 10 wanted the government to prioritize for an even shorter period of one year. Just 17% said the plan should have a timeframe of two decades.

Demand for populism?

The sentiment was split on the question of whether the government should resort to populist measures while making budgets. The data revealed that 41% of respondents believed a populist budget is acceptable during a consumption slowdown, while 38% disagreed, and 21% were undecided.

The support for the idea of a populist budget gradually decreased with a rise in income. Nearly 45% of the respondents earning above ₹25 lakh per annum said no to populist budgets if there is a slowdown in consumption growth. More men (42%) favoured a populist budget than women (35%). The idea received a muted response from older respondents, especially those above age 50.

Job search

Asked to rate how important job creation was for the budget right now on a scale of 1 to 5 (five being the highest priority), 73% of the respondents picked the maximum rating. Interestingly, the percentage dropped to less than 64% for respondents in the age group of 18-25 years and students. Only 3% of all respondents said that the government should give less priority (a rating of 1 and 2) to creation of jobs in the upcoming budget.

Favoured groups

A majority of respondents supported the announcement of favourable budget schemes for various groups: 64% favoured schemes for women and 69% backed initiatives for farmers. Entrepreneurs also received strong support, with 68% in favour of schemes for them.

Tax conundrum

In the previous Union budget, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had tweaked the income tax slabs and increased standard deduction for salaried employees. The change in tax slabs received tepid response in the survey. One in every four respondents said the relaxations in the new income tax slabs were "satisfactory", while nearly two-thirds expressed dissatisfaction. In addition, 9.4% of respondents were undecided, while 3.1% did not express an opinion.

The discontent was particularly evident among the salaried class, with 75% of them saying the changes were not satisfactory. The satisfaction levels dropped further to 10% for people earning more than ₹25 lakh per annum.

Among the two genders, the change in income tax slabs was received better by women than men, though only marginally. About 28% of all women respondents reviewed the changes in tax regime in positive light, nearly 4 percentage points more than the overall average.

Among cities, Lucknow, Nagpur and Bengaluru stood out. While over 43% of the respondents from Lucknow expressed satisfaction with the new income tax slabs, the approval ratings dropped to 16% for the other two cities.

Tax choice

The verdict on the two tax regimes was left in balance. While 55% of the respondents said they preferred the old tax regime, nearly 45% agreed that the new tax regime was better.

The preference for the old regime increased to 67% among those with income of ₹25-35 lakh per annum and 61% among the overall salaried class. On the other hand, the new regime was upvoted by nearly 60% of retired people.

On the question of increasing the exemption limit of ₹1.5 lakh under Section 80C of the Income Tax act, 77% of the respondents said the limit should be increased in the upcoming budget.

On the question of capital gains tax, 40% were in favour of 20% tax with indexation benefits, while 36% opted for 12.5% tax with no indexation benefits.

In the previous budget announcement, the government increased the tax rate on long-term capital gains on all financial and non-financial assets from 10% to 12.5% and removed the slab of 20% tax rate with indexation benefits. However, within a few weeks, the government reintroduced the tax rate of 20% with indexation benefit on the sale of property acquired before 23 July, 2024.

About the Survey

The online poll was posted on the Livemint website and conducted from 28 November to 30 December 2024. It was taken by 7,051 respondents. More than 68% of the respondents were from 15 large Tier-I and Tier-II cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Patna, Surat, Indore, Kanpur and Nagpur).

Nearly 85% of all respondents were men. Half (51%) belonged to the salaried class, 10% were business owners, and 19% were students. Around 33% reported earning more than ₹15 lakh per annum, while nearly 40% reported an annual income of ₹10 lakh or less.