Rule 3B

Rule 3B — the law in short

What the courts have decided on section Rule 3B, in one screen. Read this first; open an entry when you need the facts, the reasoning and the source.

• Statutory position — s.10(13) on the approved superannuation fund, and s.17(2)(vii)/(viia): the Rs. 7,50,000 AGGREGATE ceiling on the employer's contribution to provident fund, NPS and superannuation taken together, and the annual accretion on it CBDT Circulars & InstructionsCuts both waysValidity unconfirmed
  My client's Form 16 now shows a perquisite for the employer's contribution to the superannuation fund and to NPS. Is there a separate limit for each fund, and what is the extra line for annual accretion?
  There is one limit, not three. Section 17(2)(vii) makes the amount or the aggregate of amounts of any contribution made to the assessee's account by the employer in a recognised provident fund, in the scheme referred to in s.80CCD(1) and in an approved superannuation fund a perquisite to the extent it exceeds seven lakh and fifty thousand rupees in a previous year — a single aggregate figure across all three. Section 17(2)(viia) then makes the annual accretion by way of interest, dividend or any other amount of similar nature during the previous year to the balance at the credit of those funds a further perquisite, to the extent it relates to the contribution already taxed under sub-clause (vii), computed in the manner prescribed. Separately, s.10(13) exempts payments out of an approved superannuation fund on the death of a beneficiary, to an employee in lieu of or in commutation of an annuity on retirement at or after a specified age or on incapacity, by way of refund of contributions on death, by way of refund of contributions on leaving service otherwise than by such retirement or incapacity to the extent the payment does not exceed the contributions made before the commencement of the Act and interest on them, and by way of transfer to the employee's account under a pension scheme referred to in s.80CCD and notified by the Central Government. Both sub-clauses date from 1 April 2021: section 13 of the Finance Act, 2020 substituted sub-clause (vii) and inserted sub-clause (viia) with effect from that date, so the aggregate ceiling first applies for assessment year 2021-22. Before that, sub-clause (vii) reached only the employer's contribution to an approved superannuation fund and only above one lakh and fifty thousand rupees, and there was no sub-clause (viia) at all.

Listed strongest first: Supreme Court, then High Court, then Tribunal, then CBDT. Nothing here has yet been read in full by a chartered accountant — open an entry to see where it came from.