Nitish Kumar slams NDA over EPF tax, says it will harm youths

New Delhi, March 5: Bihar Chief Minister on Saturday lashed out at the BJP-led NDA government over its plan to impose tax on pension withdrawals by private sector employees, saying it will endanger the future of India's youth.

In a tweet, Nitish said: "GOI has barely delivered on their promise of creating jobs and now a tax on EPF further puts the financial future of our youth in jeopardy. According to 14th Finance Commission recommendations, central funds to Bihar had already decreased significantly by 10.8%."

The JD(U) leader also accused the government of swindling the states of their share by imposing new cesses. He also mentioned about his own state, saying central funds to Bihar had gone down by almost 11 per cent.

The tax plan, which was presented by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget on February 29, has led to a serious criticism, forcing the government to reconsider the budgetary proposal that a part of the EPF (Employees Provident Fund) withdrawal will be taxed with 60 per cent corpus. Sources said the government was considering other options to protect the impact of the tax proposal on the salaried middle class.

A high-level meeting also took place between the officials of the PMO and Finance Ministry on Thursday (March 3) where EPF tax proposals were also discussed.

Jaitley is likely to make an official statement in the House on the revision of the proposal.

Oneindia News