Budget: Government may relax LTC norms to boost tourism
NEW DELHI: In order to give boost to the tourism sector, the Budget for 2015-16 is likely to expand the scope of LTA and LTC by including hotel and other expenses besides travel for the purpose of tax benefit.
NEW DELHI: In order to give boost to the tourism sector, the Budget for 2015-16 is likely to expand the scope of LTA and LTC by including hotel and other expenses besides travel for the purpose of tax benefit.
The Ministry, sources said, it is also considering a proposal to
allow employees to avail Leave Travel Concession (LTC)/ Leave Travel
Allowance (LTA) every year as against the current practice of two times
in a block of four years.
At present, LTA or LTC covers only economy class air travel or
first class (AC I Class) rail fare. An announcement in this regard is
likely to be made in the Budget to be presented by Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley on February 28.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier expressed his keenness to
promote tourism. Experts are of the view that encouragement to the
tourism sector will promote development of different regions and create
employment opportunities.
“To boost domestic tourism and also provide some tax relief to the
individuals, the Leave Travel Concession benefit should be increased to
one visit for every financial year,” KPMG (India) Partner Vikas Vasal
said.
He further suggested that tax concessions should also be made
available for stay in hotel may also be covered to help families avail
of a holistic benefit.
The LTC/LTA is available to the individual and his family including
spouse, two children, parents, brothers and sisters, who are wholly
dependent on the assessee.
“There is a huge scope for developing the tourism industry in India
which provides direct and indirect employment to millions of people.
Therefore, an enhanced tax relief to individuals on LTC will benefit the
overall economy,” Vasal said.
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