Additional deduction under 80CCD

[Admin TMI]

Question - What the proposed additional deduction under 80CCD in Finance Bill 2015 ?

[Admin TMI]

Additional deduction under 80CCD

Under the existing provisions contained in sub-section (1) of section 80CCD of the Income-tax Act, 1961 if an individual, employed by the Central Government on or after 1st January, 2004, or being an individual employed by any other employer, or any other assessee being an individual has paid or deposited any amount in a previous year in his account under a notified pension scheme, a deduction of such amount not exceeding ten per cent. of his salary in the case of an employee and ten per cent. of the gross total income in case of any other individual is allowed. Similarly, the contribution made by the Central Government or any other employer to the said account of the individual under the pension scheme is also allowed as deduction under sub-section (2) of section 80CCD, to the extent it does not exceed ten per cent. of the salary of the individual in the previous year. Sub-section (1A) of section 80CCD provides that the amount of deduction under sub-section (1) shall not exceed one hundred thousand rupees. Till date, under section 80CCD, only the National Pension System (NPS) has been notified by the Ministry of Finance.

With a view to encourage people to contribute towards NPS, it is proposed to omit sub-section (1A). In addition to the enhancement of the limit under section 80CCD(1), it is further proposed to insert a new sub-section (1B) so as to provide for an additional deduction in respect of any amount paid, of upto fifty thousand rupees for contributions made by any individual assessees under the NPS.

Consequential amendments are also proposed in sub-section (3) and sub-section (4) of section 80CCD.

These amendments will take effect from 1st April, 2016 and will, accordingly, apply in relation to the assessment year 2016-17 and subsequent assessment years.

AI Summary

Additional NPS deduction expands individual tax deductions for personal contributions under the national pension system, encouraging greater participation. The proposal removes the existing monetary cap on the primary deduction for individual contributions to the National Pension System and adds a new separate additional deduction for personal NPS contributions, limited to fifty thousand rupees, while preserving employer contribution deductions under existing percentage-based rules; consequential amendments align related subsections and the changes take effect from the fiscal year beginning 1st April, 2016.