Relief to salaried taxpayers: standard deduction of Rs 40,000 allowed in lieu of present exemptions
2.5 Crores salaried employees and pensioners to benefit
Differently-Abled will continue to get transport allowance at enhanced rate
In order to provide relief to salaried
taxpayer, the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri
Arun Jaitley, proposed to allow a standard deduction of Rs. 40,000/- in
lieu of the present exemption in respect of transport allowance and
reimbursement of miscellaneous medical expenses. However, the transport
allowance at enhanced rate shall continue to be available to
differently-abled persons. Also, other medical reimbursement benefits in
case of hospitalisation etc., for all employees shall continue.Presenting the General Budget 2018-19 in
the Parliament here today, the Finance Minister said, “Standard
deduction shall significantly benefit the pensioners also, who normally
do not enjoy any allowance on account of transport and medical expenses.
The revenue cost of this decision is approximately Rs.8,000 crores. The
total number of salaried employees and pensioners who will benefit from
this decision is around 2.5 crores.”
Shri Jaitley said, “The Government had
made many positive changes in the personal income-tax rate applicable to
individuals in the last three years. Therefore, I do not propose to
make any further change in the structure of the income tax rates for
individuals. There is a general perception in the society that
individual business persons have better income as compared to salaried
class.”
The Finance Minister further said,
“Apart from reducing paper work and compliance, this will help middle
class employees even more in terms of reduction in their tax liability.”
Source : PIB