Though finance minister Arun Jaitley’s budget has significant schemes in healthcare and the standard deduction for salaried class, the only middle class cohort to truly benefit is the senior citizen.
There were few happy faces in India after the Budget speech got over, except for the senior citizens. Since we don’t have representatives of Bharat in the TV studios or as talking heads, their reaction does not get captured. Budget 2019 has given a big push to Bharat and tightened India a bit more. Senior citizens should be happy. The morning laughing club should be laughing harder tomorrow. They have reason to because they are possibly the only middle India cohort that gets to take home more money. Interest income for them will be exempt from tax up to Rs 50,000, up from Rs 10,000. This means that if a 60-plus person had an income of, say, Rs 10 lakh as interest, she will now be taxed on Rs 9.5 lakh, other exemptions and deductions remaining the same. The deduction on premiums on health insurance is up from Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000. This is good because privately bought health covers for senior citizens are very expensive. The Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana has been extended till March 2020, and the Rs 7.5 lakh-limit is doubled. A 60-plus person can now get an assured 8.3% annual return on Rs 15 lakh of investment. A couple that has invested Rs 30 lakh, can earn an interest of Rs 2.49 lakh a year from it.