If your income is anywhere between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, you will pay Rs 2,000 to Rs 22,000 less to the taxman in 2012-13. Don't hasten to celebrate as you will now pay more on goods as well as services. Hikes in excise dutiesand service tax mean that you will pay more for consumer goods, cars and gold as well as mobile phone services and hotel bills.

The Budget has certainly not doled out any freebies for you.

But it has thrown in a few crumbs. For one, you will pay no tax up to Rs 10,000 a year, on income received as interest on your savings account in a bank or post office.

It has also made changes to ensure that the minimum age to qualify as a senior citizen (60 years) is uniform across several tax provisions.

Senior citizens are also saved the pain of paying advance tax if they have no business income. They can now pay self-assessment tax after the end of the financial year. Currently, a tax liability of over Rs 10,000 attracts advance tax.

The Budget encourages you to take stock of your health with a modest deduction f Rs 5,000 for medical check-ups. But this is clubbed with the current Rs 15,000 limit for medical insurance premium under Section 80D.

While other tax-related investments haven't been touched, you may have to be careful in choosing your life insurance policies.

The Budget states that you can claim deduction only if your premium does not exceed 10 per cent of the policy value.

Fewer policies will thus be eligible for tax benefits as this is currently fixed at 20 per cent. Similarly, any sum received from your life policy at the end of the tenure will be exempt only if the above condition is met.

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