Tax exemption limit for men and senior citizens raised not for women !

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In order to compensate the salaried class who have been drastically hit by the never ending inflation, Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee today in his budget speech announced an increase in the income tax exemption limit from the current Rs 1.60 lakh per annum to Rs 1.80 lakh per annum for men. This increase in exemption would mean a benefit of Rs 2000 for male taxpayers. The limit for women however remains unchanged at Rs 1.90 lakh per annum.
Apart from the above Mr Mukherjee has also raised the limit for senior citizens from Rs 2.40 lakh to Rs 2.50 lakh per annum besides lowering the age to 60 years.
This could be the last time that men and women are being given different tax exemption limits, once the proposed Direct Tax Code comes into effect from April 2012, both men and woman would uniformly be given exemptions to the tune of Rs 2 lakh per annum.