Is an Employee Eligible for LTA Reimbursement if It's Part of Their Monthly Salary?

Dear Team, We are paying LTA to one of our employees as part of his salary every month. He claims reimbursement for the travel he made to his hometown (to and fro).

Eligibility for LTA Claim

My doubt is, as we are paying him every month as part of his salary, is he eligible for the claim? Kindly provide me with inputs on the same.

Regards,
ACP

As per my knowledge, any employee cannot ask for or avail reimbursement if they travel for personal reasons or benefits.

Regards,
Vikram

LTA on a Monthly Basis?

Never heard of it. I know about LTA procedures, tax exemption benefits, etc. Please let me know if you need more information on this topic.

LTA on a Monthly Basis

LTA on a monthly basis may be paid as a perquisite to the employee (a certain percentage of Basic). He can claim a tax rebate two times in a period of 4 years (block year for LTA fixed by the organization). His claim should be supported by proof of journey for him and his declared dependent family members. There is no provision for reimbursement or adjustment of LTA paid to him against the claimed journey expenditure. If he does not undertake any journey in any year, LTA paid on a monthly basis will be considered as taxable income.

Regards,
Rakesh

I personally feel that the concerned employee has the right to claim reimbursement of LTA at the entitled class of accommodation for self only once in a year, not every month, provided he does not accept a lump sum LTA grant in his salary for the entire calendar year. Such actual LTA is not taxable under the Income Tax Act. Any LTA over and above once in a calendar year for self only or once in the block of two calendar years for self and dependent family members would be taxable income.

Regards

Understanding LTA Block Year

The block year for Leave Travel Allowance (LTA) is not determined by the organization; it is set by the Income Tax Department. The current LTA block is from 2010 to 2013.