What is Gratuity in Salary – Under the payment of the Gratuity Act 1972, gratuity can be defined as a monetary benefit that the employer designates to the employees. However, before 1972, it was not law binding for the employers to pay gratuity to their employees. The employer disburses the amount to his employees at the time of retirement. This amount can be stated as a benefit plan where the employee makes no contributions. Gratuity in salary can also be considered a token of appreciation or thank you to an employee for rendering incessant service to the organisation.
An employer could consider paying their employees the gratuity amount either from their account or avail themselves of the option of a general gratuity insurance plan with a service provider. Then the company is entitled to pay an annual contribution to the opted service provider. In return, the insurance company must adhere to the policy rules and regulations while paying the gratuity amount to the employee.
Gratuity is calculated using the last drawn salary (Plus DA) and working tenure. Following the 1972 Payment of Gratuity Act, gratuity must not be greater than 20 Lakhs.
Gratuity = B* N*15/26 or 30 where,
The Payment of Gratuity Act 1972 has further bifurcated non-government employees into the following categories:
In case of a fatal event with an employee, such as death, the benefits of gratuity are calculated per the tenure of employee service.
Years of service | Gratuity Amount |
<1 year | 2 * basic salary |
>= 1 year but <5 years | 6 * basic salary |
>=5 years but < 11 years | 12 * basic salary |
>=11 years but < 20 years | 20 * basic salary |
>=20 years or more | For each completed six-month term, you will be paid half of your base wage. But is limited to a maximum of 33 times the base pay. |
Mentioning a few instances where the employee will be eligible to receive gratuity are as follows:
According to the 1961 Income Tax Act, if an employee receives gratuity during his tenure, then it is fully taxable as income in his hands. On the other hand, if gratuity is received in case of an employee’s resignation or death and some other cases, then tax exemption is applicable under section 10(10) of the Act.
As prescribed in the 1972 Payment of Gratuity Act, certain organisations are entitled to gratuity, viz.
The taxation process for gratuity completely depends upon the employee who is about to receive the gratuity amount. Keeping this in mind, a few standard cases have been outlined for the calculation of tax on gratuity.
If any employee under the state government, central government, or local authority is eligible to receive the gratuity amount, then the entire amount is exempted from Income Tax.
The following exemptions are considered in this scenario, where the employer is covered under the Gratuity Act.
In the case above, the least of the following three amounts, viz.
Under the section 10(10) of the Act following limits are applicable:
Tax exemption on gratuity will be done in case of any death and retirement to the extent of least of the following:
The formula for the same is given below:
Basic Salary (Plus DA) last drawn *15/26 * Working Tenure
The limit for tax exemption for such employees is the least of the following:
(Note: Kindly ignore the months in a fraction)
As per the 1972 Payment of Gratuity Act, an employer can forfeit the employee’s gratuity payment, either partially or wholly, despite completing five or more service years in a company. However, this applies only when the employee has been terminated due to delinquency or wrongdoing wherein they try to harm other individuals during their employment physically.
The timeline for gratuity payment comprises three steps which include:
One comforting aspect for employees in the private sector is that the ceiling has increased from Rs.10 lakh to Rs.20 lakh for gratuity tax-free. Post the 7th Pay Commission implementation. The same was done for the central government employees.
Considering the COVID-19 outbreak across the nation, which upended the lives of many, the Union Government has suggested numerous security measures for workforce safety. In addition, it has been announced that the government plans to offer the payment of gratuity after one year of service, which applies to a firm’s fixed-term employees.
Gratuity is a monetary benefit paid to the employee by an employer. A closer look at the concepts of gratuity and taxation rules helps employees better understand the eligibility criteria and other areas of concern.
Ans: No, an employee is not eligible to get gratuity earlier than five years of service. The employee must complete five consecutive years in the company without any gaps. The employee has to qualify the prerequisites mentioned in the article above to claim for gratuity following the end of his employment term with the organisation.
Ans: The employee provident fund comprises contributions from both employer and employee. It is not the case with gratuity, where the employer pays the entire amount.
As per the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, a specific percentage of the salary is calculated, which is then deposited in a gratuity account payable later.
Ans: According to the amendments made in the 7th Pay commission, the upper limit for gratuity is now up to 20 lakhs for a government employee. In contrast, for non-government employees, the gratuity limit is Rs. 10 lakhs.
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