Over 1,550 private provident fund trusts run by Indian companies could lose their income tax benefits in less than three months time.
These private trusts enjoy tax benefits on the basis of their affiliation to the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) through temporary relaxations granted by it.
The deadline for getting recognised by the government as an exempted fund under EPFO expires on March 31, 2009.
The finance ministry had mandated in 2006 that private provident trusts should obtain exemption under the EPF Act within a year from the labour ministry if they wanted to continue enjoying tax benefits under the Income-Tax Act.
The deadline has been extended twice since then as the process has proved to be tedious.
Till now, only one company has till been able to get exemption, according to PHDCCI member and chartered accountant Sushil Jain.
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