Overview
- Chadha proposed optional joint income-tax filing for married couples, restoration of full tax exemption on disability pensions for all wounded soldiers, and abolition of minimum-balance penalties.
- He illustrated the tax issue with two households earning ₹20 lakh each, saying a dual-earner couple pays zero tax under the new regime while a single-earner family pays ₹1.92 lakh.
- He argued the disability-pension exemption now effectively applies only to those invalided out, urging equal treatment for personnel who continue to serve or retire normally after service-related injuries.
- He said banks collected nearly ₹19,000 crore in minimum-balance penalties over three years, including about ₹8,000 crore by public sector banks and ₹11,000 crore by private banks.
- The idea of optional joint filing has been recommended earlier by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, and the proposals have spurred discussion without any policy change so far.