A 'perquisite' is defined in the Oxford as 'any casual emolument, or profit attached to an office or position in addition to the salaries or wages'. In sunlit words, perquisites are the benefits in addition to normal salary to which the employee has a right to by virtue his employment. In simple language, 'perquisites 1 are benefits or amenities provided in kind by the employer free of cost or at a concessional rate. Their value, to the extent these go to reduce expenditure that the employee normally would have otherwise incurred in obtaining these benefits and amenities, is regarded as part of taxable salary. As a golden rule, the taxable value of perquisites in the hands of the employee, is its cost to the employer.
