Changes in tax on lumpsum and premature withdrawals under UPS and NPS in the latest version of Income Tax Act, 1961

Time of India

a day ago

Income tax exemptions for UPS
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Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the Taxation Law (Amendment) Bill, 2025, in today's Lok Sabha session. This Bill aims to amend the Finance Act, 2025 and the Income Tax Act, 1961. The main focus of these changes is to align the tax treatment of UPS ( Unified Pension Scheme ) with that of NPS ( National Pension System ). Here are some key updates included in the Taxation Law (Amendment) Bill.As per the bill, any payment made from the NPS Trust to a UPS subscriber, which does not exceed 60% of the individual's corpus at the time of superannuation, voluntary retirement or retirement, shall be exempt from income tax.According to the bill, 'any payment from the National Pension System Trust to an assessee, who is a subscriber to the Unified Pension Scheme, to the extent that it does not exceed sixty per cent of the individual corpus, as specified in notification number FX-1/3/2024-PR, dated the 24th January, 2025 of the Department of Financial Services, made at the time of his superannuation or voluntary retirement or retirement under clause (j) of rule 56 of the Fundamental Rules [which is not treated as penalty under the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rule.'According to the bill, 'any sum received as a lump sum amount as per clause (vi) of paragraph 2 of the notification number FX-1/3/2024-PR, dated the 24th January, 2025, of the Department of Financial Services, by an assessee being a subscriber to the Unified Pension Scheme will also be tax exempt.'As per law, a lump sum payment will be allowed on superannuation at the rate of 10% of monthly emoluments (basic pay + Dearness Allowance) for every six months of qualifying service you complete. Moreover, this lump sum payment will not affect the amount of assured payout.The bill further adds that, 'where any amount standing to the credit of the assessee, being a subscriber to the Unified Pension Scheme, in his account referred to in sub-section (1) or sub-section (1B), in respect of which a deduction has been allowed under those sub-sections or sub-section (2), together with the amount accrued thereon, if any, is received by the assessee or his nominee, in whole or in part, in any previous year on account of his superannuation or voluntary retirement or retirement under clause (j) of rule 56 of the Fundamental Rules [which is not treated as penalty under the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965], as may be applicable, the whole of the amount shall be deemed to be the income of the assessee or his nominee, as the case may be, in the previous year in which such amount is received, and shall accordingly be charged to tax as income of that previous year.'Simply put, if the UPS subscriber or their nominee receives any amount from the scheme before their superannuation, retirement or voluntary retirement, it will be treated as income in the hands of the individual and taxed accordingly.As CA Ashish Niraj, Partner, A S N & Company Chartered Accountants explains, this sub-section has been inserted to clarify that in case the assesee closes the account or opts out of the pension scheme referred to in sub-section (1) or sub-section (1B), then such amount will be deemed to be his income in that previous year and will be taxed.Adds CA Mohit Gupta, 'if an assessee (subscriber to the Unified Pension Scheme) receives any amount (including accrued income) from their pension account—where deductions were claimed earlier under Section 80CCD(1), (1B), or (2)—on superannuation, voluntary retirement, or retirement under Rule 56(j) of the Fundamental Rules (not treated as penalty), the entire amount will be treated as taxable income in the year of receipt'.Additionally, if the remaining balance in the individual corpus is transferred to the pool corpus on his superannuation, voluntary retirement or retirement, it won't be treated as income for the taxpayer in that year. According to CA Ashish Niraj, Partner, A S N & Company Chartered Accountants, this is merely shifting funds from individual corpus to pool corpus for annuity purposes, and hence, does not invite taxes.Explains Prabhakar K S, Founder & CEO, Shree Tax Chambers, "with effect from April 1, 2025, any amount received by an assessee or their nominee on superannuation or retirement will be considered income in the year it's received and will be charged to tax accordingly. A subscriber, upon attaining 60 years, can withdraw 60% of the total corpus as a lump sum, which is tax-free. The remaining 40% should be utilised to buy annuities. The annuity income is taxable as per the applicable income tax slab rates".