Salary - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition salary

Definition :

Salary, a recompense or consideration generally periodically made to a person for his service in another person's business; also wages, stipend, or annual allowance. See RECEIPT.

An agreed compensation for services esp. pro-fessional or some professional services usu. paid at regular intervals on yearly basis, as distinguished from an hourly basis, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 1337.

The ancients derive the word from sal, salt (Plin. H.N. xxxi. 42)--the most necessary thing to support human life being thus mentioned as a representative of all others.

The word 'salary' as used in clause (h) of s. 60 is meant to be confined to the emoluments of labourers and domestic servants. It makes a distinction between salary and the wages of labourers and domestic servants, Raghunandan Sahai v. Jaigobind Sahay, AIR 1942 Pat 194.

The word 'salary' as used in proviso (1) to s. 60, Civil Procedure Code must be construed as meaning the total monthly emoluments to which a public servant is entitled, including any sum which may be required for the payment of taxes or payments or repayments to a provident fund, even though these may be recovered by deduction from his salary, Umar Khan v. Abdul Wahid Nafix Khalili, AIR 1943 Lah 60.

'Salary' means the total monthly emoluments, excluding any allowance declared exempt from attachment, Kousalya Devi v. Praveen Bankers, AIR 1980 Ker 148 (149). [Civil PC, 1908, s. 60(1)(12), Expl. II]

Salary means payments received by any person on regular basis for each month. Salary does not include arrears of salary, Karnataka Bank Ltd. v. Assistant Profession Tax Officer, AIR 1989 Kar 204 (206). [Karnataka Tax on Profession Trades, Collings and Employment Act, 1976, ss. 3(2)(J), 9]

Both 'salary' and 'wages' are emoluments paid to an employee by way of recompense for his labour. 'Salary' is remuneration paid to an employee whose period of engagement is more or less permanent in character though remuneration for the day's work is not ordinarily termed 'salary', Mohmedalli v. Union of India, AIR 1964 SC 980 (985). [Employees Provident Funds Act, 1952, s. 2(b)]

Conceptually 'salary' and 'wages' connote one and the same thing, namely, remuneration or payment for work done or services rendered but the former expression is generally used in connection with services of a higher or non-manual type while the latter is used in connection with manual services, Gestetner Duplicators Pvt. Ltd. v. Commissioner of Income-tax, AIR 1979 SC 607: (1979) 2 SCC 354.

Under s. 7 of the Income Tax Act, 1922, 'salary' also includes commission. If the commission was chargeable under s. 7, no other question of forgoing or not taxing could arise, Ram Prasad v. Commissioner of Income Tax, AIR 1973 SC 637: (1972) 2 SCC 696: (1973) 1 SCR 985.

Salary, includes allowances, fees, commissions, perquisites or profits received, in lieu of or in addition to a fixed salary, in respect of an office of employment of profits, but subject to any rules which may be prescribed in this behalf, it does not include travelling, tentage, horse, or summary allowance granted to meet specific expenditure. The meaning of salary could not be restricted merely to periodical payments of services rendered by an employee to his employer, CIT, West Bengal v. HV Yazdi, (1978) 114 ITR 14.

Salary, is fixed payment made periodically to a person as compensation for regular work, remuneration for services rendered, fee, honorarium. Thus, in one aspect honorarium and fee are used almost as though they are interchangeable terms, K.B. Rohamare v. Shanker Rao Genuji Kolhe, (1975) 1 SCC 252.

Salary, is remuneration paid to an employee whose period of engagement is more or less permanent in character, for other than manual or relatively unskilled labour, Bahadur Prasad v. State of Bihar, (1989) Pat LJR 1137.