Interim Budget 2019: Middle class cheer likely; I-T exemption cap may go up

The interim Budget will be presented on February 1. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is in New York for a medical check-up, will be back by the end of January and is expected to present it

The 2019-20 interim Budget may lay out a road map for possible tax incentives for the middle class. While the specific measures are expected to wait for the full Budget, the finance minister is likely to announce the government’s vision for an income-tax (I-T)-friendly regime, possibly including exemptions and raising of the I-T exemption limit from the current Rs 2.5 lakh per annum. 
 
However, the government is still considering whether to bring these changes in the Finance Bill to enable amendments to the I-T Act or stick to convention and merely announce its intention to introduce them in the