Rahul demands rollback of EPF tax

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded that the government withdraw the proposal for taxing employee provident fund withdrawals. “EPF is the safety net of the employees and imposing a tax on this is wrong. I will urge the Prime Minister to announce... that the tax will be rolled back,” Gandhi said. He further said that Modi should instill confidence in the employees and voters by withdrawing the proposal.

In his Budget for 2016-17, Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Monday had proposed that 60 per cent of the withdrawal on contribution to employee PF made after April 1 this year will be subject to tax. This would apply to superannuation funds and recognised provident funds including EPF.

Picking on the one-time compliance window announced in the Budget as a “Fair and Lovely” scheme, Gandhi had on Wednesday said this was nothing but a move to turn the black money into white.