“Finance Minister has provided for a Health Protection Scheme for every household to the tune of 1 Lacs and senior citizens will have an additional cover for 30,000. Other than this there does not seem to be a direct benefit to senior citizens under any provisions. Some of the items where they can take some benefit which are available to others also are :
– Buying of houses, people can opt for retirement homes, with a loan upto 35 lacs loan, they would get an additional 50,000 tax break. Seniors will have to take the loan with help from their children as they may not be directly eligible.
– For seniors who stay in rented houses, they can claim higher HRA exemption
– We assume that for seniors who earn less than 5 lacs, would also get a relief of Rs. 3000 as applicable to others.”