In a relief, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has raised the limit for tax exemption on interest earned on provident fund contribution by employees to Rs 5 lakh per annum in specified cases as against Rs 2.5 lakh proposed in the Budget.
The minister further noted that the concession would be available to employees only in cases where his or her employer does not make any contribution to the retirement fund. She said ''I intend to raise this limit to Rs 5 lakh only in those cases, where there is no contribution by the employer in that fund.'
Besides, the Minister said that so, most often, it is employee contribution and employer's contribution, but there are contributions which are only employee and no employer contribution is made, in such cases that amount is raised to Rs 5 lakh.