New Delhi: The government on Wednesday proposed to phase out tax benefits up to Rs 25,000 on stock market investments under Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme (RGESS), which was introduced with much fanfare by the previous UPA regime.
Noting that “limited number of individuals availed this deduction”, the Union Budget 2017-18 on Wednesday proposed to rationalise this tax benefit introduced in the Finance Act, 2012 and phase it out from the assessment year 2018-19.
The tax saving scheme, which was announced in the Union Budget 2012-13 and was further expanded the next year, was designed exclusively for the first-time individual investors in securities market with gross total income below a certain limit. In 2013-14, the income ceiling of the beneficiaries was raised to Rs 12 lakh from Rs 10 lakh specified in 2012-13.
