new delhi finance minister arun jaitley on thursday said that with every annual budget the centre has been putting more money in the hands of the middleclass taxpayerstep by step in every budget i have been putting surplus money in the hands of the middleclass taxpayer jaitley said at a postbudget press conferencehe recounted how he has been regularly scaling back the tax burden borne by the individual taxpayerwatch team toi discusses main points of budget 2018last year wed reduced the tax rate to 5 per cent for those with an income of less than 5 lakh per annum this is the lowest anywhere in the world jaitley saidearlier in the day the finance minister presented the union budget 201819 which focuses on strengthening agriculture and rural development besides other sectors of the countrys economy jaitley said that this years budget a blend of fiscal prudence with the requirement and needs of the economy recognises the contribution of the salaried class for the first time it proposes to bring back standard deduction which allows rs 40000 in lieu of transport allowance and medical expenses giving a boost to the average salarymans takehome payunion budget 2018 winners and losersthis decision to allow standard deduction shall significantly benefit the pensioners also who normally do not enjoy any allowance on account of transport and medical expenses he saidmoreover salaried taxpayers and pensioners will not need any documents or bills to claim the rs 40000 standard it deduction on travel and medical expenses said cbdt chief sushil chandratill now these category of taxpayers had to furnish medical bills and an undertaking for conveyance expenses to get benefit of rs 19200 under transport allowance and rs 15000 under the medical allowanceunion budget 2018 full text of arun jaitleys speechhowever there was no rejig in personal income tax slabs and rates in the budget the surcharge of 10 per cent on income above rs 50 lakh but less than rs 1 crore will continue as does the 15 per cent tax on income above rs 1 crorethrough budget 2018 the government has given senior citizens additional avenues of investment and their earnings have been made tax free up to a certain extent jaitley said he was referring to the proposal which hikes interest income exemption on deposits with banks and post offices for senior citizens from rs 10000 to rs 50000 they will also be able to claim benefit of deduction up to rs 50000 annually on health insurance premium and general medical expenditure incurredbusiness which is the only mode of income for a significant chunk of the countrys middle class has been given a big break in the budget by lowering the corporate tax rate by 5 per cent for businesses with a turnover of up to rs 250 crore the finance minister kept his promise made in the 201516 budget to slash corporate tax to 25 per centwatch budget 2018 blends fiscal prudence with requirements and needs of economy today fm