Budget 2019: No income tax? Here is what Aviva Life Insurance CIO Prashant Sharma says

Budget 2019: No Budget is complete without long discussions around existing income tax provisions and changes around them. The biggest example of this was probably the interim budget of this year where the then Finance Minister Piyush Goyal announced tax rebate for people with income up to Rs 5 lakh. While the decision was welcomed by all, it also led to a lot of confusion, leading to long arguments. Now, as Nirmala Sitharaman gears to present Union Budget 2019 on Friday, the demands are once again being raised. 

Prashant Sharma, Chief Investment Officer, Aviva Life Insurance believes that the government should remove tax slabs in India to avoid discrimination and accelerate industry growth. "To accelerate industry growth, it is vital to place customers at the epicenter of all initiatives with complete removal of tax slabs to avoid discrimination. NDA 2.0 should focus heavily on awareness campaigns to propagate financial investment to be based on personal requirements instead of tax incentives," he said. 

"We are hopeful the upcoming budget will address the current industry gaps and focus on long-term holistic development for all," Sharma said. 

He added that the government should continue to push financial products that provide security to people. "The NDA government 1.0  in the last few years have clearly shown its intent towards the betterment of nation’s financial security and increased penetration of life protection plans across markets. A myriad of schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojna and other significant initiatives were introduced to drive awareness around financial planning. From an industry perspective, we are currently at a nascent stage thus, the onus of maximizing the benefits of the existing initiatives stays with the new government," he added. 

This is the first budget of the Modi government in its second term. The Economic Survey for the year 2018-19 was tabled in the Parliament on Thursday.