“Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.”- Stephen Hawking.
It’s been almost a week since the Finance Minister presented the Union budget of India, 2018. A week filled with discussions and debates, analyses and opinions on the rural-focused, growth-oriented budget. Pensioners have something to cheer about, as do farmers. The markets have reacted, and after the initial knee-jerk reactions, are gradually coming to terms with the budget. There are aspects of the budget where the effects will not be seen immediately, and impacts will become clear only with time.
While leaving the income tax slabs unchanged, the budget saw the introduction of a standard deduction for salaried employees in lieu of the reimbursement of medical expenses and conveyance allowance, and an increase in education cess by 1%.
So, what does this imply for organisations and how do they tweak employee benefits to ensure their workforce continues to derive the maximum value?
Salary structures across organizations will need to be reworked to take into account the withdrawal of medical expenses reimbursement & conveyance allowance. It’s also an opportunity to reinforce the employee value proposition
This era of reducing the number of tax-saving benefits has brought to the forefront the growing importance of meal benefits, not just as a tax saving measure, but as a valuable component of employee benefits. The Meal benefit offers employees benefits of nutrition, health and discounts on daily essentials. All this while saving taxes up to Rs. 12,500 per year.
Why opt for the ‘Meal card’ & the importance of tax-compliance
Employees need help in managing their taxes. The meal benefit remains at the forefront and plays the dual role of saving taxes along with providing them with healthy, nutritious meals. HR professionals who don’t have this benefit have a golden opportunity – since salaries need to be restructured in the next 6 weeks, why not help employees save taxes too?