Giving a relief to salaried class, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today proposed a standard deduction of Rs 40,000 in lieu of transport allowance and medical reimbursement entailing a revenue sacrifice of Rs 8,000 crore. The minister, however, did not propose any change in the tax slabs or rates for individual taxpayers.
“In order to provide relief to salaried taxpayers, I propose 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,” Jaitley said while presenting the Budget 2018-19 in Parliament today. The standard deduction, which is provided to salary earners, was discontinued from the assessment year 2006-07.
