Mr Jaitley, these are five key expectations from Budget 2017

As countdown to the Union Budget 2017 has already begun with the Supreme Court on Monday dismissing the plea to reschedule the date in view of the upcoming assembly elections. This time budget will be announced one-month in advance, instead of the traditional practice of declaring it on last day of February. The whole idea of advancing annual financial plan is to complete the spending and tax proposals before beginning of next fiscal.

Here are the five major expectations from the NDA's fourth budget:

Income Tax Slabs
It is expected that Arun Jaitley on February 1, 2017 may announce some upward revision in the income tax slabs to benefit the common tax payers in the country. The current income tax limit is Rs 2.5 lakh, and the government is expected to increase this limit to Rs 4 lakh.

Go Cashless
Union budget 2017 is the first budget after demonetisation, that is why it is expected to promote cashless transactions. Discounts on card payments, discounts for toll booth payments using cards, waiver of merchant discount rates when using debit cards at POS machines, etc., have already been implemented. Additional benefits to promote people to go cashless through credit cards, debit cards and mobile wallets, apps are expected to be part of the Union Budget 2017-18. Benefits for banking through payment banks are also expected.

Real Estate
2016 was not was not smooth for the major GDP contributors of India's real estate sector. Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA) and demonetisation caused major damages to this sector. Cash crunch made problems for both buyers, sellers, and constructors. Relaxation in income tax rate, hike in the HRA deduction limit for salaried people, measures to standardize the construction material costs are expected from the new budget.

Housing Loan
Narendra Modi-led government announced the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) in 2015. The scheme is aimed to provide housing for all as such everyone is expecting for some tax concessions in the budget. The increase in the tax deduction for interest paid on housing loan is expected. Some concessions may be offered in the Union Budget 2017-18 to increase the tax benefit on payment of interest beyond the annual Rs 2 lakh, to give a helping hand to both the industry and tax payers.

Relief Farmers
Post demonetisation farmers were not able to sell their rabi crops due to unavailability of new currency notes in sufficient numbers. It is expected that farmers who were hit by note ban would get some benefits in the budget to compensate for the pain. Measures to provide greater access to cashless transaction modes in rural areas and farmers are also expected. This will make the purchase of seeds, fertilizers, and other agricultural essentials easy.