Can you get a tax exemption for travelling?

Are you aware of the component of Leave Travel Allowance (LTA) for employees, that covers your travel expenses? Do you know that the component is already part of your salary and you are eligible to use it for your travels? Read on to find out all about LTA and tweak your upcoming travel plans accordingly.

Leave Travel Allowance is a component that has to be included by employers in their employees’ annual CTC, as a best practice, to enable people of the working class to enjoy vacations with their families. This allowance does not come under the total taxable income, which means that the employee need not pay tax for receiving LTA. As evident from the name itself, LTA covers only the travel expenditure involved, and not expenses related to staying, food, shopping, short travels within the vacation destination or international travel. LTA can only be claimed for travels made within India.

If you are a salaried employee and your offer letter contains the LTA component, you are eligible for the allowance. There is no waiting period for the LTA, the eligibility begins on the first day of employment. It can cover the actual travel expenses of you, your spouse and your immediate family (parents, in-laws and two children if they are born after 1 October 1998.) After the trip, you can submit bills of travel collectively, for all persons who travelled, to your admin/finance department, for reimbursement, subject to your salary slab. No amount will be credited to you in advance.