INCOMES WHICH DO NOT FORM PART OF TOTAL INCOME ( LEAVE TRAVEL ALLOWANCE)

Section : 10. In computing the total income of a previous year of any person, any income falling within any of the following clauses shall not be included—

Sub-Clause : (5)  in the case of an individual, the value of any travel concession or assistance received by, or due to, him,—

(a)  from his employer for himself and his family, in connection with his proceeding on leave to any place in India ;

(b)  from his employer or former employer for himself and his family, in connection with his proceeding to any place in India after retirement from service or after the termination of his service,

subject to such conditions as may be prescribed (17) (including conditions as to number of journeys and the amount which shall be exempt per head) having regard to the travel concession or assistance granted to the employees of the Central Government :

Provided that the amount exempt under this clause shall in no case exceed the amount of expenses actually incurred for the purpose of such travel.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause, "family", in relation to an individual, means—

(i)  the spouse and children of the individual ; and

(ii)  the parents, brothers and sisters of the individual or any of them, wholly or mainly dependent on the individual; ]

(17)17. Rule 2B prescribes the conditions as well as quantum of exemption, which are as follows :

Conditions to be satisfied - Conditions to be satisfied are as under :

  ♦  The exemption is admissible on the value of any travel concession or assistance received by or due to an assessee from his employer or former employer, as the case may be, for himself and his family, in connection with his proceeding (i) on leave to any place in India, or (ii) to any place in India after the retirement from service, or (iii) to any place in India after the termination of his service.

  ♦  The exemption is admissible in respect of actual expenditure incurred for journeys performed, not only by the assessee but also by his family.

For this purpose, 'family' means (i) the spouse and children of the assessee, and (ii) the parents, brothers and sisters of the assessee provided that they are wholly or mainly dependent on the assessee. With effect from 1-10-1997, the Central Civil Service Leave Travel Concession Rules have been amended in this respect.

  ♦  The exemption can be availed only in respect of two journeys performed in a block of four calendar years. For this purpose, the first four-year block commenced with the calendar year 1986. Thus, the four-year blocks will be 1986-89, 1990-93, 1994-97, 1998-2001, 2002-05, 2006-09 and so on.

  ♦  If an assessee has not availed travel concession or assistance during any of the specified four-year block periods on one of the two permitted occasions, or on both occasions, exemption can be claimed provided he avails the concession or assistance in the calendar year immediately following that block. This is popularly known as the 'carry-over' concession. In such cases, the exemption so availed will not be counted for purposes of regulating the future exemptions allowable for the succeeding block of four years.

Quantum of exemption.—The basic rule is that the quantum of exemption will be limited to the actual expenses incurred on the journey. This pre-supposes that, without performing any journey and incurring expenses thereon, no exemption can be claimed.

In addition to the above general limitation, the quantum of exemption will also be subject to the following maximum limits, depending upon the mode of transport used or available:

	JOURNEYS PERFORMED ON OR AFTER 1-10-1997
	■	For journeys performed by Air	■	Air economy fare of the national carrier (Indian Airlines or Air India) by the shortest route to the place of destination.
	■	Where place of origin of journey and destination are connected by rail and the journey is performed by any mode of transport other than by air	■	Air-conditioned first class rail fare by the shortest route to the place of destination.
	■	Where place of origin of journey and destination or part thereof are not connected by rail	■	(i) Where a recognised public transport system exists, the first class or deluxe class fare on such transport by the shortest route to the place of destination.
				(ii) Where no recognised public transport system exists, the air-conditioned first class rail fare, for the distance of the journey by the shortest route, as if the journey has been performed by rail.

Restricted concession for children.—Under sub-rule (4) of rule 2B, inserted with effect from 1-10-1997, exemption on travel concession will not be admissible to more than two surviving children of an individual born after 1-10-1998. This restriction will not however apply in respect of children born before 1-10-1998, and also in cases where an individual, after getting one child, begets multiple children (twins/triplets/quadruplets, etc.) on the second occasion. The implications of this restriction will be as follows :

  ♦  In respect of journeys performed on or before 1-10-1998 exemption will be admissible in respect of all the surviving children of the individual.

  ♦  In respect of journeys performed after 1-10-1998

  -  the exemption will be admissible to all surviving children born before 1-10-1998;

  -  in addition, the exemption will be admissible to only two surviving children born on or after 1-10-1998. In reckoning this limit of two children, children born out of multiple birth after the first child will be treated as 'one child' only.

It may be noted that section 2(15B) of the Act defines a 'child' as includes 'a step-child and an adopted child of the individual'. Hence the aforesaid restrictions will operate in respect of step-children and adopted children also provided they are born on or after 1-10-1998.