Manager ( Taxation )
877 Points
Joined July 2008
Dear Sivaraman
Hope this will clear your doubts.......
The general perception that whatever is the balance with the Provident fund is non taxable at the time of with drawl. However , it is not entirely correct. There are circumstances when even the savings in provident fund (accumulated balance ) becomes taxable.
Section 10(12) of the I T Act exempts all payments from any provident fund set up by Central Government or any provident fund on which Provident Fund Act applies. This means , if you are employees of Central government or State Government or of any employer whose fund are managed by Provident Fund authorities , any payment from such provident fund is total exempt .
Be careful in case of being member of recognised provident fund.
Wherever, employer maintains provident fund of the employees through a trust and gets recognition from Commissioner of Income tax for such trust , the employee needs to be careful regarding the taxability of accumulated balance , because the payments from such recognised provident fund is taxable in certain circumstances. Section 10(12) of the I T Act gives exemption to payment from recognised provident fund as under
(12) the accumulated balance due and becoming payable to an employee participating in a recognised provident fund, to the extent provided in rule 8 of Part A of the Fourth Schedule ;
Rule 8 of Part A of the Fourth Schedule of I T Act provides the circumstances under which the accumulated balance payable to an employee is exempt from tax . If employee fulfills any of following conditions, payment from recognised provident fund is tax free :
(i) if he has rendered continuous service with his employer for a period of five years or more, or
(ii) if, though he has not rendered such continuous service, the service has been terminated by reason of the employees ill-health, or by the contraction or discontinuance of the employers business or other cause beyond the control of the employee, or
(iii) if, on the cessation of his employment, the employee obtains employment with any other employer, to the extent the accumulated balance due and becoming payable to him is transferred to his individual account in any recognised provident fund maintained by such other employer.
Continuous Service in Case Of Job Hopping
Explanation to Rule 8 provides that in case balance payable to an employee includes amounts related to fund maintained by former employers and transferred to new recognised fund from which payments are being maintained, continuous period of five yearsshall be counted by aggregating the numbers of years with other employers.