new delhi accounting regulator icai has suggested bringing back standard deduction in the regular budget for 200910 which if accepted will be cheered by millions of salaried employeesstandard deduction should be restored the institute of chartered accountants of india icai said in its prebudget memorandum to the governmentif the suggestion goes well with the government it could result in restoration of standard deduction of some amount in the taxable income of salaried employees and could lessen the tax burden on themthis is a form of relief measure we are suggesting for salaried class if there are some expenses which are allowable in case of other head then why not salary icai president uttam prakash aggarwal saidstandard deduction was given to employees to compensate for the expenses incurred by them like conveyance for earning their salariestaking into account the recommendations of the kelkar committee on direct taxes the then finance minister p chidambaram had announced abolition of standard deduction in the budget 200506 it was abolished with effect from april 1 2006standard deduction of 40 per cent of employees salary or rs 30000 whichever was less was allowed for employees whose salary was not more than rs 5 lakhbesides for employees with salary of more than rs 5 lakh a deduction of rs 20000 was allowedmeanwhile among other suggestions for direct taxes icai has suggested that corporates agricultural activities should be brought into the tax netwith the expansion of the agribusiness many corporates are undertaking composite activities in agriculture the institute saidit is suggested that agricultural activities carried on by corporates may be brought into the scope of the tax net icai said