Tax on perquisite ofvBank Employee--Why single out only the bank staff?*

# ***Tax on Perquisites of Bank Employees***

# *The Income Tax Department has recently decided to tax all the loans given by the bank to their employees at concessional rates of interest, by treating the difference between the interest charged to the general public and the interest charged to their staff as perquisite.*

# *This is extremely unfair.  Why single out only the bank staff?*

# *If the same logic and rationale are to be applied, then the need to charge perquisite tax on the following shall also be considered.*

# *1. Most of the employers give away several monetary benefits and others in kind in myriad ways to their employees. For instance, free and concessional travel tickets given by the Railways to their personnel and their family, even for their private trips.*

# *2. Freebies and concessions offered by the State-owned Road Transport Corporations to their staff and their families.*

# *3. Similar freebies and concessions given by the Central and State governments to their staff (including top bureaucrats) viz. chauffeur driven cars, bungalows, foreign trips, housing loans, vehicle loans given at cheaper interest rates, children’s educational allowance (including hostel fees), laptops, library books, medical allowance or medical treatment (both outpatient and inpatient) etc.*

# *4. Several privileges and concessions given by the airline companies to their staff.*

# *5. Products and services offered by the private sector institutions free of cost and/or at concessional rates to their staff.*

# *6. Free education to the staff children by the private schools and colleges.*

# *7. Free treatment facility offered by the hospitals to their staff and their families.*

# *8. Free food, beverages and refreshments given by the hotels and restaurants to their staff.*

# *9. Shares allotted at a price that is lower than the market price, by the listed companies to their own staff, under a separate quota called ‘Employee Stock Ownership Plan’ (ESOP).*

# *10. Myriad varieties of freebies, concessions and privileges offered to MLAs, MPs and Ministers by the respective states and the central government.  If these are all converted to cash and taxed as perquisites, then the government will face huge nationwide uproar.*

# *And the list is endless.*

# *Will they also be subjected to tax, by treating those freebies, concessions and privileges also as perquisites?*