Mark Your Calendar: Union Budget 2026 on February 1, 2026
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Be sure to make a note of this date, which is February 1, 2026, when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her ninth Union Budget, which will establish her record as the longest-serving Finance Minister in Indian history.
She has transformed the entire tax framework during her five years of work by making the new tax system the standard tax system, increasing tax-free limits, creating easier capital gains tax rules, and establishing regulatory guidelines for cryptocurrency assets.
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The income tax announcements will be the main focus for salaried taxpayers because previous reforms have already made tax filing procedures easier and provided middle-class taxpayers with important financial benefits.
Sitharaman has achieved two tax law changes, which include increasing the tax-free income limit and establishing standard capital gains tax rates to create simple tax systems that Indian citizens can easily understand.
Budget Day serves as a financial measurement, but it also marks the beginning of her permanent effect on Indian financial management because it links practical solutions with transparent operations and public-oriented reforms in a single historical achievement.
Major Tax Reforms and Trends: Nirmala Sitharaman’s Impact Over the Years
- Rising Tax-Free Thresholds: Sitharaman has progressively raised income tax exemptions between two budget periods because she increased the exemption limit from ₹7 lakh in Budget 2023 to ₹12.75 lakh in Budget 2025, which benefits middle-class taxpayers.
- Simplified Tax Filing: Government made the new tax regime the default, which simplified tax compliance for salaried workers by reducing deduction requirements.
- Capital Gains Overhaul: The tax rules for long-term capital gains and short-term capital gains underwent simplification through increased exemption limits and the elimination of indexation, which established a straightforward system for taxing investments.
- Standard Deductions & Family Benefits: The government increased the standard deduction to ₹75,000 and family pension deduction to ₹25,000, which provided financial assistance to both salaried workers and pension recipients.
- Crypto Taxation: The government established a 30% tax rate on digital assets, which included TDS requirements, as India’s initial official method for cryptocurrency regulation and taxation.
- Assessment Reforms: The assessment period for reopening investigations was reduced to three years, while the government maintained extended investigation periods for cases involving significant tax evasion, which created a system that ensured equitable treatment and enforced stricter tax compliance.
What Does All This Mean For You And Your Wallet Under The Budget?
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has been busy turning the tax maze into a slightly friendlier playground, she raised tax-free limits, she simplified filing requirements, and she made cryptocurrency laws easier to understand. She became the longest-serving Finance Minister in Indian history after Union Budget 2026, scheduled for February 1, 2026. Her reforms demonstrate that clean governance produces positive financial outcomes because salaried taxpayers, investors, and curious people can benefit from her reforms.
(With Inputs)
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Aishwarya is a journalism graduate with over three years of experience thriving in the buzzing corporate media world. She’s got a knack for decoding business news, tracking the twists and turns of the stock market, covering the masala of the entertainment world, and sometimes her stories come with just the right sprinkle of political commentary. She has worked with several organizations, interned at ZEE and gained professional skills at TV9 and News24, And now is learning and writing at NewsX, she’s no stranger to the newsroom hustle. Her storytelling style is fast-paced, creative, and perfectly tailored to connect with both the platform and its audience. Moto: Approaching every story from the reader’s point of view, backing up her insights with solid facts.
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