Can’t say anything if political parties are taking credit; we laud govt’s move to roll back EPF tax scheme: BMS

New Delhi, Mar 8 (KNN) After facing criticism from across sectors over proposed tax on Employees' Provident Fund or EPF withdrawals, Finance Minister Arunj Jaitley on Tuesday rolled back the proposal.

The tax, announced in the Union Budget last week, was criticised not only by the opposition as "anti-middle class", but also by RSS, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and more.

Reacting to this, Virjesh Upadhyay, General Secretary, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) lauded the move and said, “We met the Finance Minister, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya to urge them to roll back the proposal.”

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, after the proposal was called off, said the rollback is the result of his efforts.

"I felt middle-class people were being hurt by the government, so I decided to put some pressure on the government...my pressure did work," Gandhi said.

On this, BMS General Secretary told KNN, “We can’t say anything if political parties are taking credit of it but we appreciate that the government heard us and rolled it back.”

Jaitley had proposed in the Budget that after April 1 this year, 60 per cent of the amount deposited in the EPF account of the employee would be taxable at the time of withdrawal, and 40 per cent would be tax free. (KNN Bureau)