Budget 2015: What it means to the middle class?

The middle class anxiously looks forward to see what is in it for him in the annual budget.

The budget 2015 presented by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been a mixed bag for the middle class. Here is what is bound to elicit yahoos and hurrahs and what is sure to bring boos and sniggers from the middle class:
GOOD
· No income tax for anyone with an annual income of Rs 4.40 lakh
· Leather products to become cheaper. Excise duty on leather products down by 6 per cent.
· Transport allowance deduction hiked to Rs 1600 from Rs 800.
· Health insurance gets tax benefits. The exemptions rise.
· Exemptions for healthcare expenditure to go up to Rs 30000.
BAD
· No change in Income Tax slabs and exemptions.
· PAN number mandatory for any purchase of more than Rs 1 lakh
· Service tax hike to hit all services.
· Cigarettes, tobacco products to become costlier. Excise duty on cigarettes up by 15 per cent.
· Credit and debit card payments to become costlier.
· Cyber cafes, gyms, beauty parlours to become costlier.
· Subsidy on LPG cylinders to be removed for the upper middle class. May have to buy at market price.

.Panmalasa to cost more