Fact Check: Did FinMin say people should reduce income to shuffle off IT burden?
If you want to reduce your Income Tax Burden, reduce your income- FM Nirmala Sitharaman
By Newsmeter Network Published on 5 Feb 2022 10:31 AM IST
Hyderabad: Social media users are claiming that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has asked people to reduce income for lessening the Income Tax burden
"If you want to reduce your Income Tax Burden, reduce your income- FM Nirmala Sitharaman," reads the viral post.
Click here to view.
Fact Check:
The claim is false.
NewsMeter checked the official social media handles of the Financial Minister to verify the accuracy of the viral post. However, we found no such statement.
Next, with relevant keyword searches, we found a media report by Hindustan Times. According to the report, "Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that she did not attempt to increase the taxes in the Union Budget she presented in Parliament. She added that the government has continued this tradition from last year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed the officials to not burden the common man with higher taxes during Covid-19."
Further, we found a live speech by the Union Finance Minister on a budget 2022 and we didn't find any such statement.
Here, we can hear Nirmala Sitharaman saying, "I have not increased taxes, and I want to repeat this."
Hence, the claim is false.
