Dear friends,
Let me share my views on this thread as follows;
First and foremost, we shall analyze why the wage or salary of the working classes is structured into different components such as basic and other allowances.To my mind, basic is the actual monetary consideration for the services rendered by an employee to the employer and other allowances might have originated in the form of compensation in view of the specific or special needs arising out of employment in order to faclitate the discharge of duties comfortably but might have become conventional benefiting both the employer and the employee; the employer getting the benefit of lesser contribution in terms of indirect commitments such as contribution to shemes of Provident Fund,Pension,Gratuity and the like and the employee stands for the overall increase in his pay package.It automatically follows that the grant of allowances to the wage earners or salaried people is subject to the existence of certain specific or special conditions associated with the employment which forms the basis for its grant.However, certain allowances like dearness allowance which was necessitated by the phenominal rise in prices of commodities during the World War II continue to remain forever as an essential component of the wage or salary structure of employees.
Second, apart from the TaxMan's pont of view, how HRA is to be treated depends upon, as rightly pointed out by Loginmiracle, the HRA Policy of the organization. No need for HRA if the employee is to occupy the rent-free accomodation provided by the employer within the precincts of the place of employment.If HRA is granted as a grand component of the total pay-package the question of the employed spouse whether in the same organization or elsewhere getting HRA has no relevance, I think.
Let me share my views on this thread as follows;
First and foremost, we shall analyze why the wage or salary of the working classes is structured into different components such as basic and other allowances.To my mind, basic is the actual monetary consideration for the services rendered by an employee to the employer and other allowances might have originated in the form of compensation in view of the specific or special needs arising out of employment in order to faclitate the discharge of duties comfortably but might have become conventional benefiting both the employer and the employee; the employer getting the benefit of lesser contribution in terms of indirect commitments such as contribution to shemes of Provident Fund,Pension,Gratuity and the like and the employee stands for the overall increase in his pay package.It automatically follows that the grant of allowances to the wage earners or salaried people is subject to the existence of certain specific or special conditions associated with the employment which forms the basis for its grant.However, certain allowances like dearness allowance which was necessitated by the phenominal rise in prices of commodities during the World War II continue to remain forever as an essential component of the wage or salary structure of employees.
Second, apart from the TaxMan's pont of view, how HRA is to be treated depends upon, as rightly pointed out by Loginmiracle, the HRA Policy of the organization. No need for HRA if the employee is to occupy the rent-free accomodation provided by the employer within the precincts of the place of employment.If HRA is granted as a grand component of the total pay-package the question of the employed spouse whether in the same organization or elsewhere getting HRA has no relevance, I think.