Budget 2025: No Income Tax up to Rs12 Lakh, big relief for middle class; Netizens react with memes

The first day of February 2025 started on a joyful note as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced several key points in her Union Budget speech. In her opening statements, Sitharaman emphasised that the government aims to achieve the "Sabka Vikas" goal by promoting balanced growth across all regions. Among the many announcements, she introduced a series of schemes for Bihar and revised the tax slabs and rates under the new regime to ease the burden on taxpayers.

One of the major highlights of the budget was that no income tax would be payable on income up to Rs12 lakh.

As soon as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the new tax regime, social media was flooded with memes, celebrating the significant relief for middle-class taxpayers. The finance minister also stated that the updated tax system would be simpler, with a special focus on benefiting the middle class.

Under the new tax regime, individuals earning up to Rs12 lakh (Rs12.75 lakh for salaried taxpayers with a standard deduction of Rs75,000) will not be required to pay income tax. The government has introduced new tax slabs designed to significantly reduce the tax burden on the middle class, thereby increasing household savings, consumption, and investment.

Social media was abuzz with memes, many of which included Bollywood references and AI-generated visuals, creatively interpreting Sitharaman's announcements.