Highĺights Of Budget 2018_19

Relief to Senior Citizens: Exemption of Interest Income on deposits increased to Rs 50,000 

Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana extended up to March 2020 

Existed limit on investment under PMVVY enhanced to Rs 15 lakhs 

With the objective of providing a dignified life to senior citizens, the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley, announced significant incentives for senior citizens.

Presenting the General Budget 2018-19 in Parliament here today, the Finance Minister said that the exemption of interest income on deposits with banks and post offices to be increased from Rs. 10,000/- to Rs. 50,000/- and TDS shall not be required to be deducted on such income, under section 194A. This benefit shall be available also for interest from all fixed deposits schemes and recurring deposit schemes.

The Finance Minister also announced raising the limit of deduction for health insurance premium and/ or medical expenditure from Rs. 30,000/- to Rs. 50,000/-, under section 80D. All senior citizens will now be able to claim benefit of deduction up to Rs. 50,000/- per annum in respect of any health insurance premium and/or any general medical expenditure incurred.

Further, the Finance Minister proposed raising the limit of deduction for medical expenditure in respect of certain critical illness from Rs. 60,000/- in case of senior citizens and from Rs. 80,000/- in case of very senior citizens, to Rs. 1 lakh in respect of all senior citizens, under section 80DDB.

These concessions will give extra tax benefit of Rs. 4,000 crores to senior citizens.
In addition to tax concessions, the Finance Minister proposed to extend the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana up to March 2020 under which an assured return of 8% is given by Life Insurance Corporation of India. The existing limit on investment of Rs. 7.5 lakh per senior citizen under this scheme is also being enhanced to Rs. 15 lakh.

eduction 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.”

Here are the updates on the finance minister’s Union Budget 2018 
speech:

• Propose to increase the custom duty on mobiles from 15% to 20% and on 
some other mobile parts to 15%, and some parts of TVs to 15%.
• Propose to increase the health and education cess to 4%
• Propose to tax long term capital gains exceeding Rs 1 lakh in listed stock 
at 10%.
• Rs 50,000 additional benefit to senior citizens for investment in 
mediclaim.
• A standard deduction of additional Rs 40,000 for salaried employees. This 
move will benefit 2.5 crore taxpayers.
• No changes in the structure of income tax of individuals.
• Rs 7000 crore will be the revenue foregone for the reduced corporate tax 
on MSMEs.
• I propose to extend the benefit of the reduced corporate rate of 25% for 
companies with reported turnover of up to Rs 250 crore.
• 100% tax deduction for the first five years to companies registered as 
farmer producer companies with a turnover of Rs. 100 crore and above.
• 41% more returns were filed this year, which shows that more people have 
joined the tax net.
• Demonetisation was received by honest taxpayers as ‘Imaandaari ka 
utsav’.
• Revised fiscal deficit estimate for 2017-18 is 3.5% of GDP, fiscal deficit of 
3.3% expected for 2018-19.
• Automatic revision of MPs’ emoluments every five years, indexed to 
inflation.
• Emoluments of President, Vice President and Governor being revised: Rs 5 
lakh; 4 lakh; Rs 3.5 lakh per month respectively.
• Exceeded the disinvestment target and collected Rs 1 lakh crore: FM.
• The government insurance companies to be merged into a single entity, 
and subsequently listed in the stock exchange, as part of the 
disinvestment programme.
• The government will assign every enterprise in India a unique ID on the 
lines of Aadhaar.
.
The government has identified 372 basic business reform actions. Each 
state will take up these reforms.
• We will explore the use of blockchain.
• Rs 5.97 lakh crore allocated for infrastructure spending in India.
• 5 lakh WiFi hotspots to be set up in rural areas to provide easy Internet 
access.
• Redevelopment of 600 major railway stations has been taken up; Mumbai 
transport system is being expanded; suburban network of 160 km planned 
for Bengaluru.
• The government proposes to revamp the system of sanctioning of loans to 
SMEs. The information required for sanctioning the loan will be linked 
with GSTN and all required information can be fetched from GSTN Portal. 
It will help to grant the loans quickly and will help in reducing processing 
time.
• UDAN will connect 56 unserved airports in India.
• An institute is coming up at Vadodara to train people for the bullet train 
programme.
• AMRUT programme will focus on water supply to all households in 500 
cities. Water supply contracts for 494 projects worth 19,428 core awarded.
• Rs 1,48,528 crore is the capital expenditure for the Indian Railways for 
2018-19... All trains to be progressively provided with WiFi, CCTV and 
other state-of-the-art amenities.
• Bharatmala project approved for better road connectivity at Rs 5.35 lakh 
crore.
• Proposal to develop 10 prominent tourist destinations as Iconic tourism 
destinations.
• Women’s contribution reduced to 8.33% towards PF in the first 3 years for 
new EPF accounts... The government will contribute 12% of EPF 
contribution for new employees in all sectors.
• 70 lakh farming jobs have been created this year, shows an independent 
study.
• Rs 3 lakh crore allocated for PM MUDRA Yojana.
• The government is slowly but steadily progressing towards universal 
health coverage.
• Announce allocation of Rs. 56,619 crore for SC welfare and Rs. 39,135 
crore for ST welfare
• Healthcare stocks trading higher after the government said it proposed to 
cover 100 million families via healthcare protection scheme. Apollo 
Hospital Ltd rose 4.1%, Thyrocare Technologies Ltd 2.6%, Healthcare 
Global Enterprises Ltd rose 3%.
• Mass formalization of MSME sector is happening after demonetization 
and GST.
• Total 187 projects sanctioned under the Namami Gange programme.
• 24 new government medical colleges and hospitals to be set up by 
upgrading existing district hospitals.
• Rs 600 crore for nutritional support to TB patients.
• One medical college per every three constituency.
• Have decided to take healthcare protection to a new aspirational level. 
Launching a flagship National Health Protection Scheme to cover 10 crore 
poor and vulnerable families, benefiting approx. 50 crore. Providing Rs 5 
lakh per family per year for medical reimbursement, under National 
Health Protection Scheme. This will be world’s largest health protection 
scheme
• Rs 1200 crore for the flagship programme in health wellness centres.
• Eighteen new schools of planning and architecure will be set up... I 
propose railway university in Vodadara.
• Eklavya schools to be started for Scheduled Tribe population... Scheme for 
revitalizing school infrastructure, with an allocation of 1 lakh crore rupees 
over four years. Called RISE - Revitalizing Infrastructure in School 
Education.
• Integrated B.Ed programme to be initiated for teachers, to improve quality 
of teachers.
• Technology will be the biggest driver in improving education.
• Rs 14.34 lakh crore to be spent for providing livelihood to rural India 
through infrastructure building.
• Loans to self help groups will increase to Rs 75,000 crore by March 2019.
• We aim that by 2022, all poor people have a house to live in.
• In the next financial year, we target the construction of two crore toilets.
• Removal of crop residue to be subsidised in order to tackle the problem of 
pollution due to burning of crop residue:
• Ujwala will give 8 crore women new LPG connections.
• Special scheme to address air pollution in Delhi-NCR region.
• Credit for agricultural activities is up from Rs 10 lakh crore to Rs 11 lakh 
crore .
• Fishery and aquaculture and animal husbandry funds with a total corpus 
of Rs 10,000 crore.
• Agri-Market Development Fund with a corpus of Rs 2000 crore to be set 
up for developing agricultural markets.
• Restructured National Bamboo Mission to be launched with an allocation 
of Rs 1290 crore to promote bamboo sector in a holistic manner.
• Grameen Agricultural Market (GRAM) will provide farmers a means to sell 
directly to buyers.
• Rs 500 crore announced for Operation Green.
• Allocation to food processing ministry is being doubled from Rs 715 crore 
to Rs 1400 crore.
• Cluster-model approach to be adopted for agricultural production.
• The focus is on low-cost farming, higher MSP. Emphasis is on generating 
farm and non-farm employment for farmers.
• 470 APMCs have been connected to eNAM network, the rest to be 
connected by March 2018... Agri-Market Development Fund with a corpus 
of 2000 crore to be set up for developing agricultural markets
• Desh mein krishi utpadan record star par hai, 2022 tak kisaano ki aay 
dugni karenge.
• Agri-related stocks gain after it is said MSP for all crops to be increased by 
1.5 times. Kaveri Seeds Co Ltd rose 2.4%, Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd 2.1%, 
Escorst Ltd rose 5%, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd rose 2.2%.
• The government will ensure payment of full MSP even if farmers sell 
below MSP.
• The Minimum Support Price of all crops shall be increased to at least 1.5 
times that of the production cost.
• Our government has ensured that services and benefits reach people 
directly. The direct benefit transfer in India is the biggest such exercise in 
the world.
• Maximum governance, minimum government has ensured India has 
climbed 42 places in the ease of doing business... We are now working 
toward easing of living in India
• Budget 2018 will focus on agriculture and rural economy, health, infra, 
senior citizens: FM

• This year’s budget will focus on strengthening rural and agricultural 
economy.
• India grew at an average of 7.5% in the first three years since 2014. It is 
now a 2.5 trillion dollar economy.
• All the structural reforms will help the economy in the short and long￾term... India is expected to become the fifth largest economy very soon.
• Our government has implemented structural reforms.
• India stands out as the fastest growing economy in the world... There is a 
premium on honesty.
• Finance minister Arun Jaitley begins his Budget speech.


The Pakodanomist's Budget and the Middle Class Bull

Many BJP supporters are slamming the "Anti-middle-class Budget". Congress and Communists will anyway rubbish it. People keep harping about the "Salaried Class" getting nothing while the poor and the Corporates benefiting. I am middle class, I am salaried class and I see no wrong in what the budget wants to do. I am not an Economist but when everyone is acting like one, I believe I too can express what I believe.

We are the "most selfish and most stupid" middle class in the world. We bargain with the old lady selling corn to save 5 to 10 rupees and pay 275 rupees for a packet of popcorn in the cinema hall without complaining. Often, they won't return that 5 rupees change and we ignore that. We harass our vegetable vendor and take free toppings of chillies or coriander leaves and then pay through our noses for the toppings on our Pizza in the upmarket restaurant.

We want world class facilities but we need them for free. We look at poverty and blame the governments. Then we refuse to pay the deserved daily wages to our domestic help. We don't bother about the prices of the liquor but the medicine prices make us protest and blame the Doctors. An entire essay can be dedicated to the selfishness of our salaried middle-class but let us leave it there.

An economy is bound to stagnate when the middle class is selfish. Years of Mai-Baap governance has turned us into the most unproductive middle class in the world. Let us take a look at the Corporates now. There is a grouse that the Corporates have benefited by reduction in tax. Are they a pampered class in reality ? If that is true, why have several industries and businesses suffered heavy losses over the years ? A simple truth is Corporates create jobs. Even small scale industries and businesses create jobs while salaried middle class just offers labour. If Corporates and businesses don't flourish, jobs will be lost.

A Corporate or business house creates infrastructure, provides jobs, manufactures goods, pays different level of taxes and sustains economy. Salaried class does none of these. The taxes they pay come after deductions and allowances. Most of the salaried class takes absolutely no risk. They don't have to take huge loans and repay them. They don't have to pay salaries to employees. They don't have to mortgage properties to run an industry. They don't have to worry about their properties being attached by banks in case of default.

In short, the salaried middle class has the lowest risk in the building of a society and a nation. Let's us now take a look at the farmers. The farmers risk their hard work, money, lands and everything with hopes of satisfactory if not bumper crops. Bad monsoon, poor yield, unseasonal rains and several factors can destroy the crops and the lives of farmers. Even farmers create jobs like the manual labour and other jobs. They produce what we eat. They risk a lot more compared to the salaried middle-class people.

This is why I believe, the salaried middle class has no moral right to crib about getting nothing, while pointing fingers at farmers, Corporates and business houses. The risk takers, the investors, the innovators and the job providers should and must get higher stakes and higher benefits for an economy to flourish. A salaried middle-class person demands jobs from the nation while the risk taker entrepreneur provides the jobs on behalf of the nation.

A farmer is taking a risk. A Corporate body is taking risks. A business house is taking risks. The daily wages workers have their own insecurities and risks. Unorganized labour force faces hardships. Of all the classes of people, the salaried middle-class is the least risk facing class. They know the cheque or RTGS will be ready by the end of the month. They know exactly what will be their income and have that advantage to plan their expenses, savings and holidays accordingly.

The salaried class believes, Arun Jaitley has hit them hard. But the reality is that most governments have treated the salaried class with kid gloves because they have unions and they are vote banks. Those who change cars every 5 years, smartphones every year and can afford flying to different destinations as part of Corporate meetings forget the simple fact that someone sitting at the top of the organisation is funding the journey, air-conditioned comforts, the alcohol, the five-star dinners and even the taxi fare.

It is time the people woke up to reality. The salaried middle-class must grow up. They get their jobs, salaries, perks, food, shelter and everything else because the Corporates, business houses, farmers and workers are taking the risks. Unless a system doesn't reward the risk takers and entrepreneurs, the economy will never flourish. For the first time, we have a government that is taking the middle class bull by the horn. The bull has to understand it isn't a cow and can't produce milk.

A Pakoda seller is creating jobs. A barber who rents a shop and starts a saloon with 3 or 4 chairs is creating jobs. Pakodanomics is used as a derogatory term by the left and the Congress camps. These are the same people who talk about dignity of labour and quote Amitabh Bachchan's "Koi Kaam Chhota Nahin Hota". They know nothing about entrepreneurship and that is why they talk about jobs, jobs and jobs. There will be no jobs for the less imaginative, risk-fearing and job seeking people if the entrepreneurial Pakodanomists don't take risks.


Yes, the tax net has to widen. High end agricultural income too should be brought under tax net. But that can be done only after making the life of the average farmers a lot safer than what it has been. Reforms is a continuous process. If we want to be a developed nation with world class amenities, we must stop being selfish. The other option before us is the Mai-Baap governance that throws a few crumbs in the form of subsidies and sops and robs us from the backdoor. We will continue to live with corruption, poor infrastructure, pathetic services and bad roads. I know my choice. It is up to each and everyone of us to decide what we want. Copied



Media focused only on the negative side of budget.. here are the positives.

What do I like about #Budget2018? Here is my list of 14 highlights, keeping in the nation's future in mind. 

1) #AyushmanBharat is the single biggest health insurance coverage plan in human history. Up to 50,00,00,000 of the poorest Indians will benefit up to Rs.5,00,000 family health coverage.

2) For #DigitalIndia up to 5,00,000 WiFi services to be setup in rural India. With rural India having not even 30% of total active data usage today, in spite of far higher population, this will bring "Bharat" and "India" on par to a great extent. Reduced digital divide is good!

3) Free LPG connections to 8,00,00,000 poor women is an incredible help to those Indian women who have suffered in smoke filled kitchen for their entire lives. Their family's health will improve drastically. Also 4,00,00,000 poor families to get electricity under #Saubhagya plan.

4) Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to build 1,00,00,000 houses for those who can't afford. A steep target of #HousingForAll by 2022 is going to transform India. Garibi Hatao has been a slogan from a time even before my birth. But crores of Garib exist. This time it will change!

5) Rural India will get Rs.3,70,000,00,00,000 money for just road building. This will reduce the divide between villages and cities by a splendid extent. Also will neutralize Communist terror in Maoist areas. 35,000 KM upgrade under #BharatMala. Special focus on NE India is good.

6) Minimum support price for Kharif crops like paddy to be at least 50% higher than the cost of production. In a country where farmer suicide is rampant, this might help cushion the financial burden of farmers. Already crop insurance, health insurance & soil test being offered.

7) Corporate tax rate reduced to 25% for businesses up to Rs.250 cr turnover. In December Trump reduced US corporate tax to 21%. China already announced better tax rates to lure US comp's to stay. India had to keep tax rates low for smaller companies to be globally competitive.

8) Continued focus on #MUDRA lending is a good step forward. Already 10,38,00,000 people, mostly women, have taken loans under Mudra. With Rs.3,00,000,00,00,000 available in 2018-19, small entrepreneurs across India can sustain and expand their business. Crores of job addition!

9) Another impressive plan under Budget 2018 is to enable farmers with GrAM. Right now 22,000 rural haats are existing. Now govt is working to develop and upgrade them into Gramin Agricultural Markets or #GrAM - This will have far reaching direct selling potential for farmers. Bye bye middlemen. 

10) There are 56 fully ready airports in India, which are almost totally unused. There are 31 unserved helipads too. 1000s of crores of infrastructure lying waste. Modi govt is putting most of them into use this year. Target - 1 billion flyers! Yes, even hawaii chappal flyers ok.

11) 24 new medical colleges coming across India. Every one of them will help India's healthcare tremendously next decade. 1,50,000 new healthcare centers coming up. For a country that has huge medical facility drought today, these are visionary things which will help in 20 years.

12) Never before in India's history, Rs.14,34,000,00,00,000 was allocated for rural livelihood & infrastructure in a single Budget. From MSP, to healthcare, to roads, to direct markets, to WiFi... Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley have laid out a far reaching plan to enable "Bharat"!

13) India's most marginalized sections - the Scheduled Castes (Dalits) and Scheduled Tribes have been given a bonanza by Modi govt in Budget 2018. SCs to get 279 programs and STs 305 programs. SCs to get Rs.56,619,00,00,000 and STs to get Rs.39,135,00,00,000 in fund allocation.

14) Lastly, for decades Muslim appeasement was done by successive governments, but no focus on their upliftment. But Budget 2018 focuses primarily on education and skill development of minorities. Allocation has been increased by 62%, or the largest increase for minorities ever!

I pay all kinds of taxes in India. Direct tax, state GST, central GST, municipal taxes etc.. I did not get much help, but when I see my tax money being used for real upliftment of "Bharat" to bring them on par with "India", I am not that disappointed. Because I have visited 100s of villages recently and I know how big the income gap is.. For India's future, this budget is really good.


Forwarded as received from an Economist friend. These are his personal views. Have forwarded it as it made sense.