As per the budget, from now on, the exemption could be availed by only those armed forces personnel who were \u201cinvalidated\u201d out of service midway owing to bodily disability.<\/p>\n
New Delhi: The Union government\u2019s decision in the recently-announced budget to discontinue income tax exemption available to defence personnel who receive disability pension has drawn severe flack from military veterans, who have slammed the government over the development.<\/p>\n
As per the budget, from now on, the exemption could be availed by only those armed forces personnel who were \u201cinvalidated\u201d out of service midway owing to bodily disability. Personnel who retired after completing their full tenure (superannuation) with a disability can no longer be eligible to avail this tax exemption, reported The Telegraph<\/a>.<\/p>\n Military veterans have said that the decision will have significant consequences for disabled pensioners because at present the number of superannuated personnel was much higher than those invalidated out of service.<\/p>\n \u201cThe nation\u2019s security was first eroded by the Agniveer scheme and now with the attack on disability pension it is destroying the ethos of commitment of the professional soldiers to any security threat natural or man-made. The last nail on the coffin of a nation\u2019s defence is being struck,\u201d said former major general Shail Jha in a post on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n Till date, soldiers who become disabled during service are retained in service through sheltered appointments for administrative work. When a serving army officer is injured and disabled on duty, the benefits they can avail include a disability pension, treatment for life and an additional tax-free disability pension.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the finance bill 2026, the Government, in a fit of extreme benevolence towards war wounded and disabled veterans\/ service personnel, removed all income tax exemption benefits on war injury and disability pensions when such brave hearts continue to serve till superannuation. Wow!\u201d retired major general Birender Dhanoa wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the services today, if you are wounded in the line of duty and invalided out, no indexation of pension but your income is exempt from tax. If you continue to serve till retirement, you get pension indexation but no income tax benefits. Either way the house (I mean Govt) wins,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n He added that the tax exemption which has been removed now was in place since 1922.<\/p>\n The Telegraph quoted a former colonel who questioned how could there be two classes of disabled pensioner soldiers while extending income tax exemption.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is shocking that the government is now again discriminating against soldiers who suffer disability while serving the country,\u201d he told the newspaper.<\/p>\n This article went live on February third, two thousand twenty six, at thirty-one minutes past eleven in the morning.<\/p>\n