Skip to main content

Leave Travel Allowance - Tax Saving

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms

Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

Buy Gold Mutual Funds

Leave a missed Call on

94 8300 8300

 

The other day my colleagues and I were discussing about LTA and I realized that no one really knows everything about LTA. People are not clear as to when they can claim it, what can they claim as part of LTA or for whom they can claim it. Here we have attempted to demystify LTA and explain the rules around it.

LTA stands for Leave Travel Allowance and is a component of one’s salary. It is given to salaried persons wherein if they travel they can claim the money spent on the same. The Income-Tax department allows you to claim tax exemption on this claimed amount twice in a block of four calendar years. It is a good tax saving device for salaried employees.

  • LTA can be claimed only for cost of travel. It can be claimed for bus, car, air or train travel. It does NOT include money spent on sightseeing, food or hotel accommodation etc.
  • LTA can be claimed twice in a block of 4 years. The blocks are decided by the government. The current block is January 2010-December 2013. As you can see, calendar years are considered here. If you miss claiming LTA in one block, it can be carried forward to the first year of the next block.
  • LTA can be claimed for the shortest distance from the starting point of the journey till the destination. Moreover if you have a long winding travel plan, the last route will be considered for your claim.
  • The travel has to be within India. In most companies, you need to submit proof of travel. If the travel is by train, train tickets are to be submitted as proof and maximum amount allowed is the 1st class AC fare.  If you have travelled by air, the Economy class air fare of the National carrier by the shortest route or the amount spent which ever is less can be claimed. Please ensure that you submit the boarding pass as well. If you have used some car rental services, the relevant bills have to be submitted. 
  • You should also ensure that you have applied for leave during that time.
  • LTA can be claimed for family which can consist of spouse, children, dependent siblings and parents. You cannot claim it for your family if you are not part of the travel.
  • If two people in a family are part of the salaried class, only one of them can claim LTA for one travel.
  • If you cannot claim for LTA, you will get the LTA amount that you are eligible, post tax deduction on the same.

Hope this has helped you in decoding LTA and the policies associated with it.

Summary
LTA stands for Leave Travel Allowance and is a component of your salary. It is paid along with the salary but one is exempt from tax on this amount provided one travels as per the rules and submits the required proof by claiming for the same.

 

 

For further information contact Prajna Capital on 94 8300 8300 by leaving a missed call

 

 

Leave a missed Call on 94 8300 8300

 

Leave your comment with mail ID and we will answer them

OR

You can write back to us at

PrajnaCapital [at] Gmail [dot] Com

 

---------------------------------------------

Invest Mutual Funds Online

Invest Any Mutual Fund Online

 

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Download Mutual Any Fund Application Forms

---------------------------------------------

 

Best Performing Mutual Funds

    1. Largecap Funds             Invest Online
      1. DSP BlackRock Top 100 Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Focused Blue Chip Fund
      3. Franklin India Bluechip
      4. ICICI Prudential Top 100 Fund

B. Large and Midcap Funds         Invest Online

      1. ICICI Prudential Dynamic Plan
      2. HDFC Top 200 Fund
      3. UTI Dividend Yield Fund
      4. Birla Sun Life Front Line Equity Fund
      5. Franklin India Prima

C. Mid and SmallCap Funds          Invest Online

      1. Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund
      2. DSP BlackRock Small & Midcap Fund
      3. Sundaram Select Midcap
      4. IDFC Premier Equity Fund
      5. Birla Sun Life Dividend Yield Plus
      6. SBI Emerging Businesses Fund
      7. HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund
      8. ICICI Prudential Discovery Fund

D. Small and MicroCap Funds   Invest Online

      1. DSP BlackRock MicroCap Fund

2.       Franklin India Smaller Companies

E. Sector Funds          Invest Online

      1. Reliance Banking Fund
      2. Reliance Banking Fund
      3. ICICI Prudential Banking and Financial Services Fund

F. Tax Saver Mutual Funds      Invest Online

1. ICICI Prudential Tax Plan

2. HDFC Taxsaver

      1. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund
      2. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund

G. Gold Mutual Funds        Invest Online

      1. Relaince Gold Savings Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund
      3. HDFC Gold Fund
      4. Birla Sun Life Gold

H. International funds         Invest Online

1. Birla Sun Life International Equity Plan A

2. DSP BlackRock US Flexible Equity

3. FT India Feeder Franklin US Opportunities

4. ICICI Prudential US Bluechip Equity

5. Motilal Oswal MOSt Shares NASDAQ-100 ETF

Popular posts from this blog

Mutual Fund Review: Religare Tax Plan

Tax Plan is one of the better performing schemes from Religare Asset Management. Existing investors can redeem their investment after three years. But given the scheme's performance, they can continue to stay invested   Given the mandated lock-in period of three years, tax saving schemes give the fund manager the leeway to invest in ideas that may take time to nurture. Religare Tax Plan's investment ideas revolve around 'High Growth', which the fund manager has aimed to achieve by digging out promising stories/businesses in the mid-cap segment. Within the space, consumer staples has been the centre of attention for the last couple of years and can be seen as one of the key reasons for the scheme's outperformance as compared to the broader market. It has, however, tweaked its focus and reduced exposure in midcaps as they were commanding a high premium. The strategy seems to have worked as it returned a 22% gain last year. Religare Tax Plan has outperformed BSE 100...
Read more

Good time to invest in Infrastructure Funds

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online Buy Gold Mutual Funds Leave a missed Call on 94 8300 8300   Good time to invest in infrastructure The Sensex has gained almost 10 per cent from May 15 till date, while the CNX Infrastructure Index has gained almost 17 per cent in the period. The price to earnings ( P/ E) ratio of the BSE Sensex is 18.96; for the CNX Infrastructure Index, it is 24.57. The estimated P/ E for next year is 14.04 for the Sensex. Of the 24 companies that make up the CNX Infrastructure Index, six have a P/ E higher than 20. Does this mean infrastructure is fairly valued? Or, has it run up quite a bit? According to experts, barring stray companies, the infra sector is fairly valued and it is a good time to invest. Even if some companies are facing debt restructuring problems, once interest rates come down and regulatory norms become flexible, they will start giving good re...
Read more

Mutual Funds: Past Performance is not just everything

Many a times your agent / distributor / relationship manager tries to push you some mutual fund schemes by enticing you with a typical sales pitch…"Sir, this scheme has generated 20% returns in the past one year." And this sales pitch often gets louder when the market conditions have been favourable. Some of the agents / distributors / relationship managers have another unique way of luring you. They say, "Sir / madam this scheme has been awarded the best scheme award in the past by a leading business channel"... And hearing all these sales talks you investors very often get attracted and sign a cheque in favour of the respective scheme.   But please ask yourself do you hear these sales talks when the capital markets turn turbulent? Why is it so that your agent / distributor / relationship manager avoids talking to you during turbulent times of the capital markets and doesn't boast about returns generated by the respective funds or awards being conferred on t...
Read more

Stocks with a high dividend yield

Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Mutual Funds Online Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India) Stocks with a high-dividend yield can provide investors additional cash flow. More importantly, it is tax-free   With April 2011 just over, the 'earnings season' is well and truly here. This is the time most companies pay out a portion of their profits as dividends to shareholders. Since dividends are tax-free, they are an attractive income source with a select class of investors, who depend on these for additional cash flow. SIGNIFICANCE A company doing well and generating profits will usually be in a position to declare dividends regularly. Hence, a key parameter one should look at whilst investing in a stock is whether the company has a good dividend record. Typically, dividend yield stocks are large-caps and generally not capital-intensive. This is suggestive of the fact that the downside risk on...
Read more

Systematic withdrawal plan

  Start Systematic withdrawal plan Online Although an SWP gives you regular income and saves on taxes in the long term, you cannot open an SWP on a scheme where you have an ongoing SIP   iStockPhoto If you are planning to take a sabbatical from work or are retiring soon, you may be looking at different investment options that give a regular income. Usually, a lump sum is invested to get regular fixed amounts later. Popular products include post office monthly income scheme, Senior Citizens' Savings Scheme and monthly income plans (MIPs). A lesser known option is the systematic withdrawal plan (SWP) in mutual funds. Recently, some funds have even removed the exit load on SWPs if you were to withdraw up to 15-20% in the first year, to encourage people who want to start investing in this instrument. Here is a look at what an SWP is. WHAT IS SWP? Many of us would be familiar with a systematic investment plan (SIP ), where a corpus ...
Read more
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds Download Any Applications
Transact Mutual Funds Online Invest Online
Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Now