Finance Minister Piyush Goyal, in his interim Budget speech on Friday, announced several key reforms, including raising the income tax limit to Rs 5,00,000 and increasing the TDS threshold for deduction of tax on rent to Rs 2,40,000.

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The announcements, which will impact the country’s sizeable middle class population, comes months before the crucial Lok Sabha elections.

Here's the full text of what the minister said about raising of tax slab and TDS threshold:

On behalf of all the people of India and on behalf of our government, I would first like to thank all our taxpayers for their valuable contribution to nation building and for providing a better quality life to the poor and marginalised sections of society.

Your tax helps provide dignity to our sisters and mothers with toilets and cooking gas connections. Your tax pays for the electricity connections to the poor who have lived in darkness for generations. The tax you pay will provide healthcare to 50 crore brothers and sisters and children.

It is you, who is ensuring respect, dignity and a secure feature to our retired Jawans through one rank one pension (OROP).

Because of all these major tax reforms undertaken by us during the last four and a half years both tax collection as well as the tax base have shown significant increase and we have made progress towards achieving a moderate taxation, high compliance regime. It is therefore just an equitable that some benefits from the tax reforms must also be passed on to the middle class taxpayers.

Keeping this in view, I propose to further reduce the tax burden on such taxpayers. Though as per convention, the main tax proposals will be presented in the regular budget, small taxpayers especially the middle class, salary earners, pensioners and senior citizens need certainty in their minds at the beginning of the year about their taxes.

Therefore, proposals particularly relating to such class of persons should not wait. Hence, for the present, the existing rates of income tax will continue for FY19-20 also. I propose the following changes; individual taxpayers having taxable annual income up to Rs 5 lakh will get full tax rebate and therefore will not be required to pay any tax. As a result, even persons having gross income up to Rs 6.5 lakh may not be required to pay any income tax if they make investments in provident funds, specified savings, insurance, etc.

In fact, with additional deductions such as interest on home loan up to Rs 2 lakh, interest on educational loans, national pension scheme contributions, medical insurance, medical expenditure on senior citizens, with all of these other exemptions, deductions, persons having even higher income will not have to pay any tax.

This will provide tax benefit of Rs 18,500 crore to an estimated 3 crore middle-class taxpayers comprising self-employed, small business, small traders, salary earners, pensioners and senior citizens.

For salaried persons, standard reduction is being raised from the current Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000. This will provide additional tax benefit of Rs 4,700 crore to more than 3 crore salary earners and pensioners.

Currently, income tax on notional rent is payable if one has more than one self-occupied house, considering the difficulty of the middle class having to maintain families at two locations on account of their job, children’s education, care of parents, etc. I am proposing to exempt levy of income tax on notional rent on a second self-occupied house.

TDS threshold on interest earned on bank or post office deposits is being raised from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000. This will benefit small depositors and non-working spouses.

Further the TDS threshold for deduction of tax on rent is proposed to be increased from Rs 1,80,000 to Rs 2,40,000.