INCOME UNDER THE HEAD SALARIES

INTRODUCTION

Income means a receipt in the form of money or
money’s worth which is derived from definite source with some sort of regularity
or expected regularity. These definite sources of income are salaries, house
property, business or profession, capital gains and any other source. If an income
is not derived from any of these sources, it is not taxable under the Income Tax
Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred as ‘Act’). For example, if a person finds a purse
containing Rs.1000 on road, it is not treated as income since it is not received
from any definite source.
We have also learnt that scope of total income is determined with reference to
residential status of a person i.e. total income of each person is based on his
residential status. Once we know what incomes of a person are taxable, then we
need to know how to compute total taxable income according to the provisions of
Income Tax Act.
The present lesson starts with the classification of incomes into various heads. A
detailed study of these heads of income is made lesson wise. This lesson is
devoted to the first and most important head of income “Salaries”. The lesson is
divided into various sections. First we define the concept of salary income i.e.
what are the characteristics, which make an income fall under this head. Then,
incomes falling under this head are enumerated, followed by the detailed descriptions of income tax provisions regarding three of these incomes. The
description of remaining two incomes forming part of salary will be covered in
the next lesson along with procedure for computation of salary income. Finally,
all the provisions covered in this lesson are summarized for the sake of
convenience.

MEANING OF SALARY

Salary, in simple words, means remuneration of a person, which he has received
from his employer for rendering services to him. But receipts for all kinds of
services rendered cannot be taxed as salary. The remuneration received by
professionals like doctors, architects, lawyers etc. cannot be covered under salary
since it is not received from their employers but from their clients. So, it is taxed
under business or profession head. In order to understand what is included in
salary, let us discuss few characteristics of salary.
Characteristics of Salary
1. The relationship of payer and payee must be of employer and employee
for an income to be categorized as salary income. For example: Salary
income of a Member of Parliament cannot be specified as salary, since it is
received from Government of India which is not his employer.
2. The Act makes no distinction between salary and wages, though generally
salary is paid for non-manual work and wages are paid for manual work.
3. Salary received from employer, whether one or more than one is included
in this head.
4. Salary is taxable either on due basis or receipt basis which ever matures
earlier:
i) Due basis – when it is earned even if it is not received in the previous
year.
ii) Receipt basis – when it is received even if it is not earned in the previous
year.
iii) Arrears of salary- which were not due and received earlier are taxable
when due or received, which ever is earlier.
5. Compulsory deduction from salary such as employees’ contribution to
provident fund, deduction on account of medical scheme or staff welfare
scheme etc. are examples of instances of application of income. In these
cases, for computing total income, these deductions have to be added
back.


INCOMES FORMING PART OF SALARY

Section 17 of the Act gives an inclusive definition of salary. Broadly, it includes:
1. Basic salary
2. Fees, Commission and Bonus
3. Taxable value of cash allowances
4. Taxable value of perquisites
5. Retirement Benefits
Although, all the components of salary income are included in salary, there are
certain incomes in each of these categories, which are either fully exempt or
exempt upto a certain limit. The aggregate of the above incomes, after the
exemption(s) available, if any, is known as ‘Gross Salary’. From the ‘Gross
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Salary’, the following three deductions are allowed under Section 16 of the Act to
arrive at the figure of Net Salary:
1. Standard deduction - Section 16 (i)
2. Deduction for entertainment allowance – Section 16 (ii)
3. Deduction on account of any sum paid towards tax on employment –

BASIC SALARY

All employees are entitled to a basic salary which is fixed as per their respective
terms of employment either as a fixed amount or at a graded system of salary.
Under this graded system, apart from the basic salary at which the employee will
start, annual increments to be given to the employee are pre fixed in the grade.
For example, if a person is employed on 1st May, 2004 in the grade of 12000 –
300 – 15000, this means that he will start at a basic salary of Rs.12000 from 1st
May, 2004. He will get an annual increment of Rs.300 w.e.f. 1st May, 2005 and
onwards every year on the same date till his basic salary reaches Rs.15, 000. No
further increment is given thereafter till he is promoted and placed in other grade.
Advance Salary, if received in previous year for next year is taxable on receipt
basis in the same previous year.


FEES, COMMISSION AND BONUS

Any fees or commission paid or payable to an employee is fully taxable and is
included in salary. Commission payable may be at a fixed amount or a fixed
percentage of turnovers. In both the cases, it is taxable as salary only when it is
paid or payable by the employer to the employee. When commission is based on
fixed percentage of turnover achieved by employee, it is included in basic salary
for the purpose of grant of retirement benefits and for computing certain
exemptions that we will discuss later on.


TAXABLE VALUE OF ALLOWANCES

Allowance is a fixed monetary amount paid by the employer to the employee
(over and above basic salary) for meeting certain expenses, whether personal or
for the performance of his duties. These allowances are generally taxable and are
to be included in gross salary unless specific exemption is provided in respect of
such allowance. For the purpose of tax treatment, we divide these allowances into
3 categories:
I. Fully taxable cash allowances
II. Partially exempt cash allowances
III. Fully exempt cash allowances


I. FULLY TAXABLE ALLOWANCES

This category includes all the allowances, which are fully taxable. So, if an
allowance is not partially exempt or fully exempt, it gets included in this category.
The main allowances under this category are enumerated below:
(i) Dearness Allowance and Dearness Pay
As is clear by its name, this allowance is paid to compensate the employee against
the rise in price level in the economy. Although it is a compensatory allowance
against high prices, the whole of it is taxable. When a part of Dearness
Allowance is converted into Dearness Pay, it becomes part of basic salary for the
grant of retirement benefits and is assumed to be given under the terms of
employment.
(ii) City Compensatory Allowance
This allowance is paid to employees who are posted in big cities. The purpose is
to compensate the high cost of living in cities like Delhi, Mumbai etc. However,
it is fully taxable.
(iii) Tiffin / Lunch Allowance
It is fully taxable. It is given for lunch to the employees.
(iv) Non practicing Allowance
This is normally given to those professionals (like medical doctors, chartered
accountants etc.) who are in government service and are banned from doing
private practice. It is to compensate them for this ban. It is fully taxable.
(v) Warden or Proctor Allowance
These allowances are given in educational institutions for working as a Warden of
the hostel or as a Proctor in the institution. They are fully taxable.
(vi) Deputation Allowance
When an employee is sent from his permanent place of service to some place or
institute on deputation for a temporary period, he is given this allowance. It is
fully taxable.
(vii) Overtime Allowance
When an employee works for extra hours over and above his normal hours of
duty, he is given overtime allowance as extra wages. It is fully taxable.
(viii) Fixed Medical Allowance
Medical allowance is fully taxable even if some expenditure has actually been
incurred for medical treatment of employee or family.
(ix) Servant Allowance
It is fully taxable whether or not servants have been employed by the employee.
(x) Other allowances
There may be several other allowances like family allowance, project allowance,
marriage allowance, education allowance, and holiday allowance etc. which are
not covered under specifically exempt category, so are fully taxable.

II. PARTIALLY EXEMPT ALLOWANCES

This category includes allowances which are exempt upto certain limit. For
certain allowances, exemption is dependent on amount of allowance spent for the
purpose for which it was received and for other allowances, there is a fixed limit
of exemption.
(i) House Rent Allowance (H.R.A.)
An allowance granted to a person by his employer to meet expenditure incurred
on payment of rent in respect of residential accommodation occupied by him is
exempt from tax to the extent of least of the following three amounts:
a) House Rent Allowance actually received by the assessee
b) Excess of rent paid by the assessee over 10% of salary due to him
c) An amount equal to 50% of salary due to assessee (If accommodation is
situated in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai)
‘Or’ an amount equal to 40% of salary (if accommodation is situated in
any other place).
Salary for this purpose includes Basic Salary, Dearness Allowance (if it forms
part of salary for the purpose of retirement benefits), Commission based on fixed
percentage of turnover achieved by the employee.
The exemption of HRA depends upon the following factors:
(1) Basic Salary (3) Rent paid
(2) Place of residence (4) HRA received
If an employee is living in his own house and receiving HRA, it will be fully
taxable.


Example for Reference:

Mr. X is employed in A Ltd. getting basic pay of Rs.20, 000 per month and
dearness allowance of Rs.7, 000 per month (half of the dearness allowance forms
part of salary for the purpose of retirement benefits). The employer has paid
bonus @Rs.500 per month, Commission @1% on the sales turnover of Rs.20
lakhs, and house rent allowance of Rs.6, 000 per month. X has paid rent of Rs.7,
000 per month and was posted at Agra.
Compute his gross salary for the assessment year 2006-07

Solution:

Computation of Gross Salary Amount / Rs.
Basic Salary (Rs.20,000 x 12) 2,40,000
Dearness Allowance (Rs.7,000 x 12) 84,000
Bonus (Rs.500 x 12) 6,000
Commission (1% of Rs.20,00,000) 20,000
House Rent Allowance
(Rs.6,000 x 12 – Amount exempt Rs.53,800)
18,200
Gross Salary: 3,68,200
Amount of HRA exempt is least of 3 amounts:
1. 40% of Salary (Rs.2,40,000 + Rs.42,000 + Rs.20,000) = Rs.3,02,000
2. Actual HRA received (Rs.6, 000 x 12) = Rs. 72,000
3. Rent paid (Rs.7, 000 x 12 – 10% of salary Rs.30, 200) = Rs. 53,800
Amount of HRA exempt is = Rs. 53,800


(ii) Entertainment Allowance

This allowance is first included in gross salary under allowances and then
deduction is given to only central and state government employees under Section
16 (ii).
(iii) Special Allowances for meeting official expenditure
Certain allowances are given to the employees to meet expenses incurred
exclusively in performance of official duties and hence are exempt to the extent
actually incurred for the purpose for which it is given. These include travelling
allowance, daily allowance, conveyance allowance, helper allowance, research
allowance and uniform allowance.
(iv) Special Allowances to meet personal expenses
There are certain allowances given to the employees for specific personal
purposes and the amount of exemption is fixed i.e. not dependent on actual
expenditure incurred in this regard. These allowances include:
a) Children Education Allowance
This allowance is exempt to the extent of Rs.100 per month per child for
maximum of 2 children (grand children are not considered).
b) Children Hostel Allowance
Any allowance granted to an employee to meet the hostel expenditure on his child
is exempt to the extent of Rs.300 per month per child for maximum of 2 children.
c) Transport Allowance
This allowance is generally given to government employees to compensate the
cost incurred in commuting between place of residence and place of work. An
amount uptoRs.800 per month paid is exempt. However, in case of blind and
orthopaedically handicapped persons, it is exempt up to Rs. 1600p.m.
d) Out of station allowance
An allowance granted to an employee working in a transport system to meet his
personal expenses in performance of his duty in the course of running of such
transport from one place to another is exempt upto 70% of such allowance or
Rs.6000 per month, whichever is less.


III. FULLY EXEMPT ALLOWANCES

(i) Foreign allowance
This allowance is usually paid by the government to its employees being
Indian citizen posted out of India for rendering services abroad. It is
fully exempt from tax.
(ii) Allowance to High Court and Supreme Court Judges of whatever
nature are exempt from tax.
(iii) Allowances from UNO organisation to its employees are fully exempt
from tax.

Example for Computation & Treatment of various allowances

From the following particulars, compute gross salary of Mr X for the assessment
year 2006-07. He is employed in textile industry in Mumbai at a monthly salary
of Rs.4000. He is entitled to commission of 1% on sales achieved by him, which
were Rs.10 lakh for the year.
In addition, he received the following allowances from the employer during the
previous year:
1. Dearness Allowance Rs.2000 per month which is granted under terms of
employment and counted for retirement benefits.
2. Bonus Rs.32000
3. House Rent Allowance Rs.1000 per month (Rent paid for house in
Mumbai Rs.1200 per month)
4. Entertainment Allowance Rs.1000 per month
5. Children Education Allowance Rs.500 per month
6. Transport Allowance Rs.1000 per month
7. Medical Allowance Rs.500 per month
8. Servant Allowance Rs.200 per month
9. City Compensatory Allowance Rs.300 per month
10. Research Allowance Rs.500 per month (amount spent on research Rs 3000

Solution:

Computation of Income from Salary of Mr. X
for the Assessment Year 2006-07
Amount / Rs.
Basic Salary 48,000
Dearness Allowance 24,000
40
Commission 10,000
Bonus 32,000
House Rent Allowance
(Rs.1000 x 12 – Amount exempt Rs.6200)*
5,800
Entertainment Allowance 12,000
Children Education Allowance
(Rs.500 x 12 – Amount exempt Rs.100 x 2 x 12)
3,600
Transport Allowance
(Rs.1000 x 12 – Amount exempt Rs.800 x 12)
2,400
Medical Allowance (fully taxable) 6,000
Servant Allowance (fully taxable) 2,400
City Compensatory Allowance (fully taxable) 3,600
Research Allowance
(Rs.500 x 12 – Amount exempt Rs.3000)
3,000
Gross Salary: 152,800
* Amount of HRA exempt is least of 3 amounts
a) 50% of Salary (Basic Salary + DA granted under terms of employment +
Commission based on percentage of turnover – Rs.48,000 + Rs.24,000 +
Rs.10,000 = Rs.82,000) = Rs.41,000
b) Actual HRA received : Rs.1000 x 12 = Rs.12,000
c) Rent paid (Rs.1200 x 12) – 10% of Salary (Rs.82,000) Rs.14,400 –
Rs.8,200 = Rs.6,200

And Finally the brief up as under:

1. Heads of Income: There are 5 heads of income into which income of
persons can be divided namely Income from salary, house property,
business or profession, capital gains and other sources.
2. Meaning of Salary: Any remuneration paid by an employer to an
employee in consideration of his services is called salaries. It includes
monetary value of those benefits and facilities, which are provided by the
employer and are taxable.
3. Income forming part of salary: They include basic salary, advance salary,
fees, commission, bonus, taxable value of cash allowances, perquisites and
retirement benefits.
4. Allowances: These are of three types
(a) Taxable Allowances: Dearness allowance, Medical allowance, Servant
allowance, Warden Allowance, Family allowance, City Compensatory
allowance etc.
(b) Allowances exempt upto specified limit: House rent allowances,
Entertainment allowance, Certain Special allowances, etc.
(c) Fully exempted allowances: Foreign allowance, sumptuary allowance to
High Court / Supreme Court Judges, Allowances from U.NO