Retirement fund body Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has invited applications from provident fund trusts under its Amnesty Scheme 2026 to regularise their status, PTI reported.
The one-time scheme, introduced by the Ministry of Labour & Employment, is aimed at establishments operating exempted Provident Fund (PF) Trusts recognised under the Income Tax Act, 1961, but lacking formal exemption under the Employees’ Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.
Under the Finance Act, 2026, recognition under the Income Tax framework will be available only to provident funds that have obtained exemption under Section 17 of the Employees’ Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.
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The scheme provides retrospective amnesty under Section 17 of the EPF & MP Act and Section 143 of the Code on Social Security, 2020.
It applies to establishments operating Provident Fund Trusts recognised under the Income Tax Act, 1961, but which do not possess a formal exemption notification from the appropriate Central or State government.
The scheme will remain open for six months from the date of its notification on June 29, 2026.
Entities seeking retrospective trust regularisation that have already started compliance as unexempted establishments, or are opting for prospective compliance as unexempted establishments, are eligible to apply.
Establishments seeking retrospective trust regularisation while continuing to operate as exempted establishments under the Code on Social Security, 2020, are also eligible under the scheme.
Key benefits include retrospective regularisation, exemption status and trust recognition from the inception of the trust up to the designated cut-off date. Eligible entities will also receive waivers from certain requirements under the Code on Social Security, 2020, including minimum employee headcount and corpus size norms.
The three-year prior compliance requirement will be deemed satisfied. Pending assessments for dues, damages and interest will be withdrawn and stand abated, provided member accounts received contributions and interest at rates equal to or higher than the statutory requirement. Past finalised orders will be treated as void ab initio.
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Eligible establishments can submit a formal application to the Central Government through the concerned EPFO Regional Office. They may also submit an expression of interest by emailing rc.exemption@epfindia.gov.in.
The jurisdictional EPFO Regional Office will provide guidance and process applications submitted under the scheme.
(With PTI inputs.)
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