Jaitley announces incentives for senior citizens; Rs 50k interest income exempted

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday announced a slew of incentives for senior citizens in the Union Budget 2018.

For senior citizens, exemption of interest income on bank deposits was raised to Rs 50,000 from the current Rs 10,000, Jaitley said, adding that tax will not be deducted at source on fixed deposits.

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Finance Minister also announced that Rs 7.5 lakh per senior citizen limit for investment in interest-bearing LIC schemes has been doubled to Rs 15 lakh.

In addition, deduction limit for health insurance and medical expenditure was raised from Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000 under Section 80D. In cases of critical illness, deduction limit in medical expenses was increased from from Rs 60,000 (80,000 for very senior citizens) to Rs 1 lakh under Section 80DDB.

Also read: Union Budget 2018: Key highlights

Jaitley presented the Union Budget 2018 in Parliament on Thursday. The budget is the last budget of the BJP-led NDA government prior to the Lok Sabha election slated to be held in 2019.