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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