My current employer is giving me a bonus which I may be required to return in the future when I change companies based on a bond agreement of a certain tenure. Is accepting the bonus amount and then returning it as needed a good idea or should I reject the bonus?
I would be required to pay a certain amount of tax on the bonus and also I can get some interest on it. If I then return the bonus, is my tax carry forwarded, or am I unnecessarily paying some extra tax here?
I would require to pay certain amount of tax on the bonus amount and also i can get some interest on it. If i then return the bonus amount, is my tax carry forwarded? or am i paying unnecessarily some extra tax here?
When a company pays you a bonus, this is treated as income to you and you have to pay taxes. In normal employment contracts, if you are to give back the bonus amount, you loose the tax you paid. From a tax point of view, there are 2 transactions; first where you received income and are taxed accordingly. Second you have paid something back to company [i.e. it is looked as expense, same as you purchased something]. From a tax point of view it is not treated as reversal of the first transaction.
Is accepting the bonus amount and then returning it as needed a good idea or rejecting the bonus?
This is opinion based and is for individual to decide.
Firstly, you need to check the terms properly. The company requires you to pay back the gross amount, which means the exact amount which the company paid you as bonus [I meant in India. Not sure about abroad].
So you definitely are losing out on tax if you are returning the bonus.
