• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

I have resigned after three years of service with an employer who has refused to pay me gratuity on the ground that it is payable only if I had completed five years of service though he has been making provision for the same in his accounts and showing the same as an expense in his cost to company (CTC) calculations. What should I do? Can I carry forward my three-year employment to my next employer so as to be able to receive gratuity from him on my total service with him as well as with my previous employer?

Sundar, email

I am afraid you can't do any such thing. Gratuity is different from provident fund. While the latter can be carried forward in the manner visualised by you, the former cannot be because gratuity, legally and etymologically, is paid gratis over and above your normal salary as an incentive for sticking with the employer for sufficiently long time. At any rate the law is clear — each employer is obliged to pay gratuity for the period of service with him if and only if it was in excess of five years. Accounting treatment of gratuity on accrual basis as well as computation of CTC cannot alter the legal position.

Loss from sale of MF units

Can loss from sale of units of mutual funds be booked as business loss?

Keyur Patel, email

Why not if you happen to be in the business of buying and selling units regularly, just as one regularly buying and selling shares can be treated as a dealer in shares.

(ASK! Send in your queries to ask@thehindu.co.in.)

http://MentorQA.blogspot.com

S. Murlidharan

More Stories on : Income Tax | For the Asking

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Decision on EPF interest rate deferred

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line