The Finance Minister on Tuesday rolled back a Budget 2016 proposal to tax 60% of EPF withdrawals
Congress chief Ajay Maken said an employee will have to invest 60% of the PF in annuity to avoid paying tax during retirement
Asserted that now with the imposition of the new cesses, the government has further 'swindled' the states of their share
Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das on Friday said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was considering suggestions that tax liability be confined only to returns on 60 per cent of withdrawn funds from employees' provident fund, if not invested in annuity. "An announcement in this regard will be made by the finance minister in the parliament very soon," Das said while addressing the representatives of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry here.Govt to notify categoriesThe government will notify categories of employees who will be excluded from the controversial tax proposal on provident fund withdrawals, a Finance Ministry official said on Friday.Das said in the Union Budget 2016-17 proposals, the change in tax regime was to encourage more private sector employees to go for pension security after retirement instead of withdrawing the entire money from the provident fund account.
The total portfolio under the pension and provident fund scheme is estimated to be around Rs 6.5 lakh crore
Clarification by the finance ministry on the EPF tax row has raised more questions than answers
To standardise all products, the FM introduced tax on EPF too
The latest twist came after Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia earlier in the day said only interest on 60% of EPF would be taxed at withdrawal
The move to tax 60% of contributions effective April 1, 2016, had been roundly criticised since it would affect all salaried individuals
Started by a finance professional Vaibhav Aggarwal, the appeal has support of nearly 3,000 people