Hurray !! I got my first job. I can’t still forget my joy
when I saw the offer letter in my hand and the first salary amount being
credited in my bank account. At that time what ever was credited in my bank
account was great – I did not care about how much tax got deducted out of my
gross salary its relationship with my net cash salary. However, very shortly I
realised that some thing is going horribly wrong. I was paying a good part of
my salary to the tax man which could be easily prevented should I tax some easy
and quick steps.
An employee is offered many options to structure his salary
to ensure maximum tax benefit. As a part of his salary an employee can receive
various allowances (either completely exempt or partly exempt) to reduce his
eventual tax liability.
1. An example of such an allowance is leave allowance. An
employee can use such an allowance to cover his domestic travel and can be used
for air, rail, and road transport.
2. Gratuity paid to an employee also has taxation benefits.
To determine the taxability of gratuity, it is important to understand whether
an employee is covered by payment of gratuity act. If an employee is covered by
this act, lower of the following will be exempted from tax: –
15 days salary based on salary drawn for each year of
service.
Rs. 10,00,000/-
Actual gratuity received.
If an employee is not covered under the gratuity act then,
the lower of the following will be exempted from tax:-
½ month’s salary for each completed year of service.
Rs. 10,00,000/-
Actual gratuity received.
3. New pension scheme (NPS) is applicable to salaried
employees to reduce their overall salary. In this scheme an employer
contributes an amount to the NPS which is the same amount that is contributed
by the employee. Both of these contributions are eligible for deduction u/s 80
CCD (2) of the act. Thus such contributions reduce the overall tax saving
plans liability of the employee.
4. House rent allowance (HRA) is paid by an employer to an
employee to pay any rental towards his house property. An exemption is
available under such HRA. The exemption is based on the least of the following:
–
An amount equal to 50% of the yearly salary received
(applicable to major Indian metros and 40% in other cases)
Rent paid in excess of 10% of the salary received in a year
5. An employee should structure his salary to receive
travelling allowance. Such an allowance is paid by the employer to the employee
to meet his cost of travel on tour or on transfer from his work. This allowance
can be completely exempt if the employee utilizes an amount equal to or more
than the allowance.
6. Another option that is available to the employee is
transport allowance. Such allowance is exempt up to Rs. 800/- per month i.e.
9600/- per year as a maximum deduction is available against this allowance.
7. In case a salaried employee has children, he should ask
his employer to pay him children education allowance. A deduction of Rs. 100/-
per month per child up to a maximum of two children is available.
8. In addition to the above allowances, an employee is
entitled to receive perquisites from his employer. The tax on such perquisites
is generally borne by the employer and is tax exempt for the employee.
Perquisites include payments by the employer to the employee such as car
conveyance, free food and beverages, interest free or concessional loan,
sweeper/gardener/cook allowance, leave travel concession etc. These options are
generally available as a part of salary structuring which an employee can
provide to his employer.
9. Other general deductions u/s 80 C is also available to the
salaried employee. Under this section, he can make investments in approved
FD’s, Equity oriented MF’s, PPF etc. He can also pay his life insurance
premiums. The total benefit available under this section if Rs. 100000/-.
10. An employee can also make several donations u/s 80g and
use that to reduce his total income. Such donations offer either 100% deduction
or 50% deduction depending on the institution to which the donation is made.
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