Under the Income-tax Act, 2025, which one of the following is a taxable perquisite in the hands of an…

Under section 17(1)(f) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (formerly section 17(2)(iv) of the Income-tax Act, 1961), ‘perquisite’ includes any sum paid by the employer in respect of any obligation which, but for such payment, would have been payable by the employee. When the employee engages a domestic servant and the employer pays the servant's salary, the employer discharges the employee's own obligation, so the amount is a taxable perquisite for every employee. The other items are expressly excluded from perquisites by section 17(2): medical treatment provided in a hospital maintained by the employer [clause (a)], premium paid by the employer to keep in force insurance on the employee's health under an approved scheme [clause (c)], and expenditure incurred by the employer on a vehicle for the employee's journey from residence to office and back [clause (e)].