Circular No. 337

489. Contributions made under the Maharashtra State Government Employees' Group Insurance Scheme, 1982 - Whether eligible for relief under clause (a)(i) of sub-section (2)

What this is

Circular No. 337 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 4 May 1982. Its subject is 489. Contributions made under the Maharashtra State Government Employees' Group Insurance Scheme, 1982 - Whether eligible for relief under clause (a)(i) of sub-section (2).

What it does

Confirms that a Maharashtra State Government employee's monthly contribution to the State's compulsory group insurance scheme qualifies for relief under section 80C. The Maharashtra State Government Employees' Group Insurance Scheme, 1982, introduced from 1 May 1982 under the authority of the State Government, requires all existing and future State Government officers to contribute a fixed monthly amount for a life cover. The Board clarifies that these contributions are eligible for relief under section 80C(2)(a)(i), subject to the qualifying amounts prescribed in section 80C(4).

Why it was issued

A question was raised whether the compulsory monthly contribution under the new State scheme fell within section 80C(2)(a)(i), and the Board considered it.

Who it reaches

Maharashtra State Government officers contributing to the 1982 group insurance scheme
Drawing and disbursing officers computing their salary deduction
Assessing Officers testing a section 80C claim on these contributions

The provisions it speaks to

Left, the provision of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as the instrument itself names it. Right, the section of the Income-tax Act, 2025 that the department’s own concordance maps it to — which is where the same ground is now covered.

Under the 1961 Act	Now
s.8OC	no counterpart recorded
s.80C	s.2, s.123

The instrument, as the Board published it

The words below are the department’s own, reproduced from its published text. Where the department’s copy carried a publisher’s notes after the instrument, those are not reproduced.

489. Contributions made under the Maharashtra State Government Employees' Group Insurance Scheme, 1982 - Whether eligible for relief under clause (a)(i) of sub-section (2)
1. Under the Maharashtra State Government Employees' Group Insurance Scheme, 1982 which is to be introduced with effect from May 1, 1982 under the authority of the Government of Maharashtra, a compulsory insurance scheme would be started in which all existing and future officers of the State Govermnent are required to contribute a certain amount monthly for a life cover.
2. A question has been raised whether the Government servant's monthly contributions under the scheme would be eligible for relief under section 80C(2)(a)( i). This question has been considered and it is clarified that the contributions to the Maharashtra State Government Employees' Group Insurance Scheme will be eligible for relief under section 80C, subject to the qualifying amounts prescribed in section 8OC(4).
Circular : No. 337 [ F. No. 178/51/82-IT(A-I)], dated 4-5-1982.

What to watch

The relief is subject to the qualifying amount limits, so the contribution counts only within the ceiling then prescribed.
It is written for one named State scheme, introduced from 1 May 1982; it is not a general ruling on every State group insurance scheme.
Section 80C as it stood in 1982 was a relief with its own qualifying amount scheme and has since been replaced by a differently worded deduction, so the note records the position for those years.

Where you meet it

In the salary computation of a State Government employee where the group insurance deduction from pay has been questioned in a section 80C claim.

On the same provision

Other instruments in this library that name the same provision of the 1961 Act. They are not necessarily still operative, and a later one may have replaced an earlier one without saying so.

Circular No. 418 — 501. Subscriptions to National Savings Certificates (VI Issue/VII Issue) - Clarifications on certain issues regarding th 2 May 1985
Circular No. 405 — 501. Subscriptions to National Savings Certificates (VI Issue/VII Issue) - Clarifications on certain issues regarding th 15 January 1985
Notification No. 134/2021 [F. No. 178/4/2021-ITA-I] / SO 5056(E) — 2 the Gazette of INDIA : Extraordinary [Part Ii—sec. 3(ii)] 6 December 2021
Notification No. 45/2020 [F. No.370142/26/2019-TPL] / SO 2232(E) — Ministry of Finance 7 July 2020
Notification No.91/2015 [F.No.178/21/2014-ITA.I] / SO 3313(E) — jftLVªh laö Mhö ,yö&33004@99 REGD. NO. D. L.-33004/99 8 December 2015
Circular No. 19/2015 — Circular No.- 19 /2015 27 November 2015

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A circular binds the department, not you and not a court. The Board issues a circular to its own officers. An assessee may hold the department to a circular that helps him; the department cannot hold an assessee to one that hurts him, and the Tribunal and the courts decide the law for themselves.

Source: the Income Tax Department’s own published text — its page for this instrument.