What are the expectation of common people from the BUDGET 2018?

What are the expectation of common people from the BUDGET 2018?

The year 2018 will be definitely a crucial year for Modi government. As India goes for Lok Sabha elections in 2019, the 2018 budget has raised the hopes of people and especially the middle class in large.

The 4 budgets presented by the Modi government earlier focused much on putting the economy back on track. The Modi government started many schemes and brought many policy changes to encourage investments and job production in India. The MUDRA Yojana, Jan dhan and Ujjawla yojana became grand success in inclusive development of people from all economic background. The Mudra yojana provided loans to over 10 crore people which have helped them earn livelihood. On the other hand, the government is been successful in providing LPG gas connection to over 3 crore people in 2 years and aims to reach 5 crore people in the next one year. The farmers insurance scheme also has been successful in providing insurance to over 1.5 core farmers through out the country.

But however, in 3 years of Modi government, the middle class have not got much benefits as expected from the Modi government. When demonetization was announced in 2016, the biggest support to PM Modi came from the working class and tax payers who thought it was the right thing to do and curb the menace of black money hoarding. But however, very little benefit was given to the honest middle class who are also the core supporters of Modi government.


But now in the 2018 budget, the common people are expecting a bigger relief from income tax. The big worry for the middle class is the double taxation. The TDS is already deducted on the salary for every salaried person. But the finance ministry’s plan to deduct tax on the interest earned from saving account is a massive blow to middle class. Most of the working class have expressed concern and opposed the move to impose tax on interest.

The economic times published few opinions of common people which are as follows!
Jagdish Patel : As a service class tax payer i expect that, once the tax are paid from my salary, there should not be any further tax on my expenses. by present system i had paid a tax at source and after receiving the tax paid amount i have to pay again tax on my any kind of purchase in the market. so here is double tax i have to pay in present system.

Mouli (Chennai): -12%~15% FD intrest rate for only senior citizen with max investment limit 10Lac & only if they file ITR.-Remove Income Tax & Corporate Tax-Remove all subsities/incentive for corporate-Bring BTT linked to PAN & Aadhar (0% BTT for lower income members like IT slabs)-Reduce Land registration INR100/1000sqft.

Unknown: Salaried class expects FM to reduce tax rates – at least for people below 20 lacs considering current inflation. Also, standard deduction is inadequate and FM may increase it more which will benefit both an employee and the country

Radha K : Dear FM Ji, I am a retired (2013)scientist (ARCI-DST) without pension. I am surviving (with my husband) on the interest of the fixed amount got as retirement benefits. The bank interest has plummetted to it lowest and we are not able to have a decent life with the low interest amounts we are getting at the moment. It is really sad that after all out education and the scientist job we have worked all these years we live a hand to mouth life.

Most of them have complained about lowering interest rates in banks and double taxation for salaried people.
The other issue which the youths look up to the government is the employment. The government until now has initiated many schemes to encourage job production, entrepreneurship and skill development programs. The government also emphasized on start up India and Stand up India, however the schemes need a second push as many schemes have still have draw backs and the government needs to recheck the policies.

GST is another issue where the government needs to focus. Although the GST slabs of many items have been reduced considerably, the benefits have not reached the consumer. Rather businessmen have used the opportunity to loot people in hotels, restaurants, provisional stores pricing the items double the charge in the name of GST. The government needs to channelize a better way to tackle these issue and the consumer courts will have to be made more efficient. Many small scale businessmen have also complained about the complicated GST procedure which needs to be simplified.

Curbing the menace of real estate is another important topic picked up by Modi government. RERA (Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 was introduced to protect the interest of home-buyers as well as help boost investments in the real estate industry. But however the states have miserably failed to implement this scheme which benefits the middle class in large. Eliminating black money is not very successful and needs a re-look on the issue.

Farmers suicide is another important area where the government needs to focus. Although the fasal bhima yojana has been successful in few states, many states have failed to provide benefits to farmers through the scheme. Many states have witnessed farmers suicide and droughts which have caused major distress to farmers. Infrastructural development, storage houses and MSP are the main issues which needs special focus.