The Covid-19 pandemic saw the advent of a new type of work culture, with most sectors promptly shifting to remote working. Now in the third wave of the pandemic, it is obvious that Work From Home is here to stay.
But this work culture has also come with a significant amount of lifestyle changes and expenses. While employees depended on their companies for home costs like reimbursable mobile phones, internet expenses, etc, working from home has meant that the employees have to shoulder the costs. With rising inflation and reducing per capita incomes, employees are seeking for work from home allowances and deductions.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has suggested the central government to include tax relief for work from home expenses in its budget memorandum. With the increase in household expenses like the cost of furniture, electricity, internet, medical costs, and groceries, at the onset of the pandemic, people are prospecting the standard deduction limit to be increased from 50,000 to 75,000.
Excess contributions and interest added to PF accounts have been brought under the taxation net in subsequent budgets. Employee PF contributions, on the other hand, are eligible for the combined deduction limit of Rs 1,50,000 and should be submitted individually.
Furthermore, increasing household savings would benefit the individuals and also serve as a source of cheaper, long-term funds for the government. "The annual limit of Rs 1.5 lakh on tax-saving schemes under section 80C to encourage savings and investments," would be beneficial said Sujith Narayan the co-founder of Fi-Neo-bank, told News18. Reduction of the lock-in period from five to three years for tax-saving fixed deposits under this section would also be a better investment option.
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Published 29 January 2022, 16:07 IST