Employers with tax-recognised provident fund trusts but no formal EPFO exemption order have until 28 December 2026 to regularise their status under a one-time amnesty.
The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation has urged eligible employers to move quickly to regularise exempt provident fund trust status before a one-time amnesty window closes at the end of December.
According to an official statement cited by IANS, the amnesty period was opened on 11 July 2026 and will run for six months, ending on 28 December 2026. The measure was introduced as a transitional provision in the Employees’ Provident Fund Scheme 2026, notified on 29 June, and is aimed at provident fund trusts that are recognised under the Income Tax Act but do not yet have a formal exemption order under Section 17 of the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act or the Code on Social Security.
The scheme gives such trusts a chance to secure retrospective regularisation of exempt status, while also waiving some statutory conditions under the Code on Social Security, including minimum employee strength, corpus requirements and the three-year compliance rule. Once regularised, an establishment can operate either as exempt or un-exempt, the EPFO said.
To widen participation, the EPFO has stepped up outreach through meetings and seminars with industry bodies including the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Bombay Stock Exchange. It has also involved chartered accountants and statutory auditors in identifying qualifying trusts, while regional offices have held workshops, run awareness campaigns and issued explanatory material to help employers understand the process.
The organisation has also trained field officers through hybrid programmes and worked with the Income Tax Department to cross-check records of exempted establishments. That data-sharing effort is intended to help identify trusts that are tax-recognised but not formally covered by EPFO exemption orders, and to bring them into compliance before the deadline. Eligible trusts were advised to use the amnesty to preserve the tax advantages available to recognised provident fund trusts.
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