Income Tax Welfare Fund Rules, 2007

The

Income Tax Welfare Fund Rules 2007, has been formulated to govern the administration of the income tax welfare fund, which has been established to cater to the officers and the staffs of the Department. This article deals with the rules that regulate the functioning of this fund.

Purposes of the Fund

The following are the purposes of the Fund.

To promote welfare, recreation and other outdoor activities for officials. The welfare activities include setting up of recreation clubs, libraries, scholarships for children of the officials, establishing creches, providing vocational training to spouses of officials, arrangements of subsidised transport facility for officials, providing more amenities in the departmental canteens etc.
To provide financial assistance during contingencies like death resulting from an accident or an injury suffered from a natural cause while performing official duties. The benefits under the scheme continue to be applicable even after the official has ceased to be employed if death/ injury can be attributed directly or indirectly to an event that occurs where the official has been engaged in the search, survey or any other official duty.
To provide different forms of medical maintenance during emergencies and severe distress caused to officials and members of their families that are not fully reimbursed under the CGHS reimbursement rules and to provide high-risk insurance cover to officials involved in Survey and Search& Seizure operations.
Construction/ hiring/ furnishing/ leasing/ maintenance of holiday homes in places of tourist/ pilgrimage interest and departmental guest houses for the officials.
Other schemes or measures that are intended for the promotion of welfare and to improve the performance of the officials.
Other purpose for the welfare of officials that includes the removal of difficulties caused by natural calamities like floods, earthquakes, drought etc.

Sources of Fund

A corpus fund of Rs. 100 crores are contributed by the Government.
Assertions to the Welfare Fund would be made from the following contributions.
- 10% of the excess amount that is received after the action over the consideration that is paid by the Government on the sale of properties that is acquired by the Government under Chapter XX-C of the Income Tax Act or under other provisions of similar nature that may be introduced under the Income Tax Act.
- 10% of the reward that is sanctioned to the officers and staffs of the Income-tax Department under any established reward scheme.
- Any other mode as prescribed.

Disbursable Fund

The corpus fund would be placed in an interest-bearing account. The interest accruing on the corpus fund and the accretions shall be used for meeting the expenditure for any of the above purposes.

Administration of the Fund

The funds are administered by a Governing Body that comprises of

Chairman, CBDT
Member (Revenue)
Member (Personnel)
Financial Adviser/ his nominee
CIT (C&S), CBDT
Director (Headquarters), CBDT

There shall be an Executive Committee that is headed by the DIT (DOMS), CBDT that includes an officer of the rank of Commissioner of Income Tax from every zones such as North, South, East, West and Mumbai that are nominated by the Governing Body including a representative from each of the Indian Revenue Service Association, the Income Tax Employees Federation and the Income-Tax Gazetted Officers Association.
The DIT (DOMS) would also be the converter of the Executive Committee that meets once every three months.

Sponsoring of Proposals

Specific proposals for granting benefits of the Fund to the beneficiaries would be proposed by the concerned Chief Commissioner/ Directors General of the Income-Tax for the officials on the recommendations made by the Advisory Committee constituted at CCsIT/ DGsIT level. Joint Secretary (Administration), CBDT sponsors the beneficiaries who are working in CBDT or in any other Ministry/ organisation that comes under the Income-tax Department.
Each proposal that is received from the CCsIT/ DGsIT/ Joint Secretary (Administration), CBDT/ beneficiary would be considered by the Executive committee for making appropriate recommendation to the Governing Body.

Sanctions and Disbursements

The approval and financial sanction of the Governing Body would be conveyed to the CCsIT/ DGsIT.
The decision of the Governing Body will be the final.
DIT (DOMS), CBDT disburses the funds that are approved by the Governing Body.

Accounting Procedure

The Chief Controller of Accounts, CBDT separately issued detailed instructions pertaining to the accounting procedure in respect of receipts to and expenditure from the fund.
All sanctions and vouchers for these funds would be kept in a separate general file that has to be maintained by the DIT (DOMS).

Audit

The accounts are subjected to

statutory audit once in a year by the C&AG.

Amendments

Any amendment/ insertion to these rules would be made only after the prior approval of the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Income Tax Welfare Fund Rules 2007.

The Income Tax Welfare Fund is a fund established to cater to the welfare of officers and staff of the Income Tax Department. It aims to promote their well-being, recreation, and other outdoor activities, as well as provide financial assistance during contingencies and medical emergencies.

The purposes of the Income Tax Welfare Fund include promoting welfare and recreational activities for officials, providing financial assistance in case of death or injury during official duties, offering medical maintenance and insurance cover, constructing or maintaining holiday homes and guest houses, and implementing other welfare measures for officials.

The Income Tax Welfare Fund is funded through a corpus fund of Rs. 100 crores contributed by the Government, along with 10% of the excess amount received from the sale of properties acquired under Chapter XX-C of the Income Tax Act, 10% of the rewards sanctioned to officers and staff, and any other prescribed mode.

The Income Tax Welfare Fund is administered by a Governing Body comprising the Chairman, CBDT, senior members from the Income Tax Department, and representatives from various associations. An Executive Committee headed by the DIT (DOMS), CBDT, also plays a key role in its administration.

Specific proposals for granting benefits from the Income Tax Welfare Fund are sponsored by the concerned Chief Commissioners/Directors General of the Income Tax, based on recommendations from Advisory Committees. The Joint Secretary (Administration), CBDT, sponsors proposals for officials working in CBDT or other organizations under the Income Tax Department.

Proposals received from various authorities are considered by the Executive Committee, which makes recommendations to the Governing Body. The Governing Body's approval and financial sanction are then conveyed to the respective authorities, and the DIT (DOMS), CBDT, disburses the approved funds.

The accounts of the Income Tax Welfare Fund are subjected to a statutory audit once a year by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&AG).

Any amendment or insertion to the Income Tax Welfare Fund Rules can be made only after prior approval from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

The Chief Controller of Accounts, CBDT, issues detailed instructions regarding the accounting procedures for receipts and expenditures from the Income Tax Welfare Fund. Separate general files are maintained by the DIT (DOMS) for all sanctions and vouchers related to the fund.

The Income Tax Welfare Fund provides different forms of medical maintenance during emergencies and severe distress caused to officials and their family members that are not fully reimbursed under the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) reimbursement rules. It also provides high-risk insurance cover to officials involved in Survey and Search & Seizure operations.