When there’s little to say about personal finance changes, that’s usually good news
Some years ago, I started a budget day column with, “It’s 4 pm on budget day, and there’s nothing much to say anymore. That’s a good thing, actually.” I could write the exact same line today. However, here’s the thing: for investors and savers, a boring budget is great.
Watch the financial media today, and you’ll see anchors and influencers working overtime to manufacture drama where none exists.
Some are being inventive to the point of fiction, desperately hunting for angles that will get clicks and views.
The truth is simpler and less exciting: when it comes to personal finance and investments, this budget changes very little.
After years of significant shifts — the new tax regime, the ₹12 lakh tax-free threshold, and capital gains adjustments — we appear to have reached a period of consolidation. That’s not a failure of imagination on the finance minister’s part. It’s good governance.
Think about what stability means for a household trying to plan its finances. You can make decisions today with reasonable confidence that the rules won’t change dramatically next February. You can continue your SIPs without fretting about whether some new capital gains structure will alter your returns. In personal finance, predictability is worth more than the occasional bonanza.
That said, a few changes deserve mention.
STT raised
The Securities Transaction Tax on equity derivatives has been raised: STT on futures has jumped from 0.02 per cent to 0.05 per cent, and on option premiums to 0.15 per cent.
I wrote in 2024 about the government’s concern with derivatives speculation, comparing STT increases to statutory warnings on cigarette packets — the hardcore addicts know what they’re doing, they understand the odds are stacked against them, but most cannot help themselves.
This latest increase is another attempt to tamp down what has become a national gambling epidemic dressed up in the respectable clothing of ‘trading’. Whether it will work remains to be seen. The addiction runs deep, and perhaps the government needs to look at restricting supply rather than just trying to reduce demand through taxation.
The exemption from capital gains tax on Sovereign Gold Bonds has also been tightened. Now, to avail this benefit, you must have held the bonds from the original date of issue until maturity. If you’ve been buying SGBs from the secondary market as a tax-efficient gold play, you’ll need to recalculate whether it still makes sense.
I realise this makes for a rather dull budget column. But after years of writing about shifts and changes and new regimes, I find myself grateful for the dullness.
When your financial columnist has little to say, that’s usually a sign that your money is in a stable environment. The real work of building wealth happens not through budget bonanzas but through the quiet discipline of saving regularly, keeping costs low, and staying invested through market cycles. This budget lets you get on with exactly that.
Dhirendra Kumar is CEO of Value Research Online
