Revision on EPF proposal on the cards?

The government is all set to reconsider the budgetary proposal under which a part of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawal will be taxed with 60 percent corpus, considering several options to cushion the impact of the proposal on the salaried middle class, stated sources.

A high-level meeting took place between the officials of Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and Finance Ministry on March 3 where in EPF tax proposals were discussed.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who had proposed a change in rule aiming at reducing litigation and increasing transparency in the Union Budget 2016, is likely to make an official statement in the House outlining the revised proposal.

According to the impositions, only 70 lakh out of 3.70 crore active EPF subscribers will be impacted by the proposed tax change, a rethink has been prompted because of protests from the vocal middle class.

There has also been recognition that the plan to tax EPF is the only major proposal to have attracted significant criticism.