Provident fund

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Gitika bajaj (Querist)
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06 December 2011 is there any tax on pf withdrawal. if an employee has worked for 2 yrs and thereafter not working .. will the amt withdrawn (before 5 yrs from the date of working) be taxed or exempted?

thanks in advance

CA VISHAL RANA,CS,B.Com,AMFI

CA VISHAL RANA,CS,B.Com,AMFI (Expert)
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06 December 2011 PF AMOUNT WOULD BE TAXABLE IF EMPLOYEE WORKED FOR LESS THAN 5 YEARS EXCEPT IN SPECIFIED CONDITIONS READ BELOW CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING

Withdrawal of Provident Fund may attract Income Tax. The Income Tax Department recently told EPFO (Employees Provident Fund Organisation) to deduct Tax (TDS) from the withdrawal amount, if the withdrawal happened before completing five years of subscription. Tax officials have cited a rule in the 1961 Income-Tax Act that taxes PF withdrawals by employees before completing five years of contributions into the EPF is taxable.

In most cases, the accumulated PF balance is withdrawn at the time of retirement, and therefore, not taxable in the hands of the individual. However, in certain cases like change in employment, an individual may even withdraw the PF balance earlier. The point one needs to remember is that the amount received from such PF is not exempt from tax in all cases. Only under the circumstances listed below will the amount withdrawn from PF be eligible for such exemption from tax.
If the employee has rendered continuous service with the employer for five years or more. Again, if the balance includes amount transferred from the individual’s PF account maintained by previous employer(s), then the years of continuous service rendered to the former employer(s) would be included for the purpose of computing the five-year period.
If the employee has not rendered continuous service of five years, but the service is terminated by reason of the employee’s ill health or discontinuance of the employer’s business or reasons beyond the control of the employee, the amount will be tax-exempt.
Another tax-exempt case is when, on the cessation of the employment, the employee finds another job and the the accumulated PF balance is transferred to his individual PF account maintained by the new employer.

In short, where the PF amount is withdrawn before five years of continuous service, it may be taxable in the hands of the individual as if the fund was not recognised from the start of the contributions. In such a case, payment received by the individual in respect of the employer’s contribution along with the interest accrual thereon is taxed as “salary”. Interest on the employee’s contribution is taxable as “other income”. Payment received in respect of the employee’s own contribution is exempt from tax (to the extent not claimed as a deduction earlier).

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