Amid widespread protest from many quarters, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said in the lok Sabha that the issue related to the proposal to tax EPF will be addressed by him during the discussion on the Budget. “We are seized of the problem. I will address it during the Budget discussion,” Jaitley said.
TMC members raised the issue soon after the Question Hour with Saugata Roy demanding Jaitley, who was in the House, to make an immediate announcement. TMC leader Sudip Bandhyopadhyaya said the Budget proposal to tax the EPF withdrawal has caused nation-wide concern.
Jaitley had spoken on similar lines earlier in the day at a meeting organised by industry chambers. “The EPFO has about 3.7 crore members of which about 3 crore members are those in the earning category of Rs15,000 and below (statutory wages). For them there is no change,” he said in the seminar organised by the industry body.
With the proposal being attacked by various employees unions, including RSS-backed BMS, and political parties who termed it as “an attack on the working class and a clear case of double taxation,” the Government on Tuesday said it was to limit the tax only to the interest accrued. “Now, there have been some reactions. When the debate comes up in Parliament, I will give the Government’s response as to what decision we finally take in this matter,” he said.