New Class 9 NCERT textbook introduces income-tax calculations
A newly released NCERT Class 9 social science textbook teaches students how to calculate tax liability under India’s new income-tax regime. The chapter on personal finance also covers budgeting, saving, investment and risk management, while the former four-subject structure has been combined into two integrated volumes.
Students in Class 9 will be taught how to calculate income-tax liability under India’s new tax regime in a newly released social science textbook from the National Council for Educational Research and Training. The material appears in Understanding Society: India and Beyond Part Two, in a chapter called “Managing Your Personal Finances”. NCERT director Dinesh Prasad Saklani said the slab-based calculation was being introduced at school level for the first time.
The chapter includes a table of tax slabs under the new regime and explains how to calculate liability using those slabs. It describes paying taxes honestly and on time as an important responsibility of citizens because tax revenue helps fund national development. The textbook does not discuss the old tax regime.
The new regime, announced in the 2020-21 Union Budget, became the default system from April 1, 2023, although taxpayers can actively choose the older system. The book explains that the new regime offers lower rates in exchange for giving up most exemptions and deductions. It presents personal finance as including income, budgeting, saving, investing, and protection against risks.
Investment examples listed in the chapter include fixed deposits, bonds, stocks and mutual funds. The text says financial decision-making begins in childhood and involves choices about spending, borrowing, saving and managing risks. The textbook was released on September 29, six months after the new academic session began.
Its first part was released in June. NCERT has also reorganised the Class 9 social science curriculum. Four earlier books covering history, geography, political science and economics have been combined into an integrated set of two volumes.
The previous 20 chapters have been condensed into 16 broader themes.
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