Ahmedabad: International tax expert Mukesh Patel said that the Union Budget 2026 was a reform express for Viksit Bharat, but on the tax front, it turned into a local shuttle. He said that perhaps for the first time, the Union Budget did not give any significant direct tax relief to individual income taxpayers.Addressing a gathering at his 50th Union Budget analysis, ‘Chills and Thrills of the Finance Bill, 2026′, at Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) on Monday, Mukesh Patel said, “The FM did not mention anything about revenue forgone or augmented at the end of her budget speech. The revised estimates for personal income tax for the year 2025-26 is Rs 13.12 lakh crore, while budget estimates for 2026-27 for the same is Rs 14.66 lakh crore. This means personal income tax collection is expected to grow by Rs 1.54 lakh crore, or 12%, compared to the earlier year, but there is no tangible relief for individual taxpayers, even to keep in tune with the rate of inflation. The only monetary relief announced is that there will be no income tax on the interest awarded by the motor accident claims tribunal.”Patel said, “The budget lists several proposals under the head of ‘ease of living’, but in reality, the proposals are just in the nature of ‘ease of compliance’. There will be multiple windows for obtaining a lower deduction certificate, there will be extended time for return filing and lower TDS or TCS (tax deducted or collected at source), but these changes do not improve ease of living in any manner and can just facilitate ease of compliance.“He said that the New Income-tax Act was like a new bottle with old wine. “Professionals now need to get set to learn, unlearn and relearn because of the changes in numbers and the layout of the different sections of the old Income-tax Act, classified in a different form in the new Income-tax Act. There is old content in the new law with a mere change in language. However, there does not appear to be a positive change in the mindset and approach. Is this a simplification or more complication?”He said that the new Income Tax Act will be implemented from April 2026, but in the Finance Bill 2026, there were 110 amendments, out of which 87 amendments were in the new Income-tax Act. “Even before the implementation of the new tax law, there are so many amendments in it. There are around 500 sections in the new law and out of them, 9 sections were substituted, 2 sections were omitted, and 87 were amended.”
