If you are an investor in Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) and National Pension System (NPS), you are required to deposit a minimum amount in your account every financial year. If you fail to do so, you will have to pay a penalty and may also lose potential tax benefits.
If you are an investor in Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) and National Pension System (NPS), you are required to deposit a minimum amount in your account every financial year. If you fail to do so, you will have to pay a penalty and may also lose potential tax benefits. According to the rules, to keep this account active, it is mandatory to deposit minimum amount once a year. MiDeposit in PPF public provident fund NPS Sukanya Samridhi yojna before 31 march otherwise pay penaltyIf the minimum balance is not maintained, the account may be frozen. Besides this, fine will also be imposed. The last date for depositing the minimum amount in PPF, NPS and Sukanya Samriddhi account is 31 March 2024.
How to avoid fines
If you were paying tax under the old tax regime till last year. Invest in savings schemes to avail tax benefits on tax saving schemes like PPF, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) and National Pension System (NPS). If you want to switch to the new tax regime, you will not get the benefits of these schemes in the financial year.
For this reason, if you do not deposit funds into these accounts for FY 2023-24, you may incur a separate penalty as mentioned below.
Public Provident Fund (PPF)
According to PPF Rules 2019, it is mandatory to deposit a minimum of Rs 500 in the PPF account every financial year. If this is not done then the PPF account will not remain active. A charge will have to be paid to activate it. If you default in depositing the minimum Rs 500, a charge of Rs 50 will be levied every year.
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY)
Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana Want to save for your daughter from an early age. Under this scheme, investors are required to deposit a minimum of Rs 250 every financial year. If minimum deposit of Rs 250 is not made every financial year then SSY account will be considered as default account. Like PPF account, you will have to pay a penalty of Rs 50 to activate the default account.
National Pension System (NPS)
You can save your tax by investing an additional Rs 50,000 in National Pension System (NPS) accounts under Section 80CCD(1B) of the Income Tax Act. This is above the limit of Rs 1.5 lakh under Section 80C of the Act. It is mandatory to deposit a minimum of Rs 1,000 annually in NPS. If you do not do this then your account will be frozen. If you have to activate this account then you will have to pay Rs 500.
