New income tax rules for these salaried taxpayers: The income tax department has announced major relief to taxpayers, availing company-provided rent-free homes. It has lowered the tax for employees staying in such accommodations. The new rule comes into effect from today, September 1, 2023.
1)10 percent of salary in cities having a population exceeding 40 lakh as per the 2011 census. 2)7.5 percent of salary in cities having a population exceeding 15 lakh but not exceeding 40 lakh as per the 2011 census. The value of rent-free provided to an employee by the employer is taxable as perquisite.
The taxable value of rent-free accommodation will be reduced which means employees will pay less tax resulting in an increase in their take-home salary. “Employees who stay in accommodation, owned/rented by the employers, rent-free, could see a drop in the taxable perquisite value thereby reducing the tax burden. Which would enable them to get a bit more money in their hand," said Archit Gupta, Founder, and CEO, of Clear.
As per CBDT's notification, the changes are expected to particularly benefit high-earning individuals who receive employer-provided housing perks. Tax and investment expert Balwant Jain said that the employer has to see the calculation of “perquisite" with regard to the value of rent-free. On who will be impacted by this change, he added that ‘rent-free accommodation is provided by only a handful of employers.’ He further added that its direct effect will be visible on employees' salaries.
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