ITR Filing FY 2025: Missed Claiming LTA With Employer? Claim it in Your ITR

Leave Travel Allowance (LTA) is a popular tax exemption benefit available to salaried individuals, but it’s often missed during employer declarations. If you forgot to submit your LTA proof or didn’t claim it through your employer before the March 31st, 2025, deadline, for the Financial Year 2024–25 (FY 2025), you might be wondering if you’ve lost the tax benefit entirely.

The good news? You may still be able to claim LTA while filing your Income Tax Return. Here’s what you need to know and how you can make the most of this opportunity.

Let's take a look at 2 common scenarios that explain how to claim LTA when filing your ITR FY24-25.

Scenario 1: Missed Employer Deadline

Here, the employee traveled within India in FY2024-25 but failed to submit LTA documents to the employer by the March 31 deadline. As a result, the LTA component was taxed and no exemption will be shown in Form 16.

However, the employee can still claim the exemption directly in the ITR, provided:

• Valid travel documents (tickets, boarding passes, invoices) are presented.
• The travel was domestic and follows exemption rules (e.g., shortest route, economy class or 1st AC).
• The claim is in line with the LTA amount received in the salary. Let’s say your employer paid you ₹30,000 as Leave Travel Allowance (LTA) in your salary for FY 2024–25. However, you forgot to submit travel proofs to your employer, so no exemption was given, and the full ₹30,000 was taxed as part of your salary.

While possible, claiming LTA in ITR may attract scrutiny. Supporting documents must be kept ready in case of assessment.

Scenario 2: LTA Not Part of Salary Structure

Here, the employee traveled within India in FY2024-25 and has supporting travel documents in place. However, the employee does not have an LTA component in the salary package.

• No LTA exemption can be claimed.
• Travel expenses, even if domestic, are not deductible.
• The ITR should not include any LTA claim.

Only those with LTA explicitly mentioned in their salary structure can avail this exemption. Others are not eligible.

Claiming LTA With Employer Within 31 March Deadline

Generally, there are two routes of claiming Leave Travel Allowance (LTA). The first is through your employer during the financial year, by submitting the required travel proofs before the deadline, usually March 31st, and second is through the ITR filing. Let’s understand the first route through an example:

The employee took a domestic vacation during FY2024-25 and submitted travel proofs to the employer before the March 31 deadline. The employer verified the documents and reflected the exemption in Form 16.

• LTA is already accounted for in taxable salary.
• TDS on Salary is lower due to reduced taxable income.
• No additional steps are needed during ITR filing.

Submitting LTA to the employer on time ensures hassle-free tax benefits without further declaration during return filing.

Read More: Income Tax Return 2025: How Many Times Can You Switch Tax Regimes While Filing ITR?

Conclusion

While you can claim LTA in your ITR, it’s far more convenient to claim it through your employer by March 31. This not only reduces paperwork at tax filing time but also ensures smoother processing and lower TDS.

If you missed the employer deadline, don’t worry just keep all the required documents handy and claim it correctly when filing your ITR for FY2024-25.

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