Odisha Women Demand Tax Cuts on Essentials, Tax-Free Status for Women-Led Businesses

Speaking to ANI, Maitri, a entrepreneur, expressed her hopes for tax reductions on everyday essentials such as gas burners, purifiers, etc. She also highlighted the need for an effective tax structure, stating that women-led businesses should be "tax-free" to create more opportunities.

"I am an industrialist. My expectation from today's Union Budget is that essential commodities, such as a gas burner, will be included. A two-stove gas burner is essential for a middle-class, lower-income person. It also has 18% GST. It should be reduced. Today, air pollution is so high that GST should be reduced on air purifiers and it should be made cheaper," she said.

"Just like every year, Income Tax slab should be redefined...Tax structure should be such that there is maximum reach to the tax-paying population. As a woman entrepreneur, I want women-led businesses and women-owned businesses to be tax-free so that more women can enter the business and create more employment," she added.

She also hoped for a "cap on airfare," raising concerns about higher prices for cancellations.

"The airfare keeps going up and down. It never goes down. There should be a cap on the airfare. There should be a reduction in GST or whatever taxes. It should not be that if there is a strike or a problem, two or four flights get cancelled and the airfare becomes four times," she said.

Additionally, Anvesha, a software engineer, asserted her expectations for tax reduction on essential services, including medical bills, dineouts, railways, etc.

"We pay a lot of GST. We are not getting the facilities that we need. We have to pay separate taxes at hospitals, social gatherings, eating out, train tickets and other commodities," she said.

Underscoring concerns of the private job employees and the middle class, she said that more facilities should be provided to the taxpayers.

We have private jobs. We will live on our savings. With our salary, we can only eat food and live in a house. We can't think of anything more than what middle-class people do. We should give more facilities to the taxpayers," she asserted.

FM Sitharaman is set to present India's ninth consecutive Union Budget. Sitharaman will present a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government of India for the year 2026-27.

The Finance Minister will also lay on the table two statements under Section 3(1) of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, 2003.

These include the Medium-term Fiscal Policy-cum-Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement and the Macro-economic Framework Statement.

The List of Business further states that Sitharaman will move for leave to introduce the Finance Bill, 2026, in the Lok Sabha. She will also formally introduce the Bill.

- ANI