The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Income Tax for medical allowance

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Income Tax for medical allowance

The State Government has been paying medical allowance (MA) to all its employees and pensioners a uniform amount of Rs.50 from January 1996 to May 2009 and increased the same to Rs.100 from June 2009.

The Government has also introduced a Health Fund (HF) scheme under which the employees/pensioners could avail assistance to a maximum of Rs.1,00,000 or 75 per cent of the cost of the treatment of some specified diseases in specified hospitals, whichever is less.

Under the HF scheme, when introduced, the employees/pensioners were instructed to contribute Rs.10 from January 1996 to March 2008. It was subsequently increased to Rs.50 from April 2008 to August 2009 and further to Rs.100 from September 2009.

All contributors may not avail the assistance unless they have to undergo treatment. At the same time, an individual pays income tax (IT) of Rs.247/Rs.124 if he is in the 20 per cent or 10 per cent slab rate of IT, for an amount, i.e., the medical allowance, not received by him.

Hence the Government could either increase the medical allowance to meet the expenses for minor diseases or stop showing the MA as an income to individuals to avoid paying income tax and directly remit the same to HF, so the question of the office inadvertently not remitting the amount collected to the fund does not arise.

The drawing officers can submit the list to which salary was paid then and there and the double work of making payment and recovery can be avoided.

K.L. Eswaran,

Bodinayakanur, Theni district.

Red Cross Society in Ramanathapuram

The Red Cross unit in Ramanathapuram district unit is not meeting once in three months as stipulated under the rules governing the Red Cross Society.

After the last meeting held in November 2008, no further meetings were held.

The general body meetings to be held every year has not been conducted for the past many years.

Lack of transparency in administration and lack of efficiency prevails due to the poor functioning of the district secretariat.

Since the Collector is the president, I appeal to take note of this lapse on the part of the district secretary and to streamline the functioning of the district unit of the Red Cross Society in a more purposeful way.

Asmabagh Anvardeen,

Ramanathapuram.

Introduce circular bus service

There is a great need for having a circular town bus route from Ramanathapuram to Ramanathapuram connecting Ramanathapuram, Tiruppullani, Thiru Uthirakosamangai, Nainaar Koil and Devipattinam, all famous pilgrim centres in the district, frequented by tourists from south India as well as north India.

The transport authorities may introduce such a facility, operating two services in the morning and two in the evening, one bus each in opposite directions.

This will help pilgrims visit all these centres in a day. This will also be a boon to the people residing in the adjoining villages.

K.R. Chandrasekar,

Ramanathapuram.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu