As per a recent circular issued by the government in respect of PPF provisions, following clarifications are worth noting.
Deposit date in Cheque payments :-Till recently, in case of a PPF when a subscriber used to make deposits by local cheque or demand draft, the date of tender of cheque or draft at the accounting office was treated as the date of deposit of PPF, provided the said cheque was duly honoured on presentation for encashment.
In contrast, in case of other small savings schemes like Post Office Savings Scheme (POSS), Senior Citizen Savings Scheme 2004 (SCSS) any money deposited in these accounts by means of a cheque, the date of encashment of the cheque is treated as the date of deposit.
Thus, in order to remove inconsistency between PPF and other small savings schemes and to bring in uniformity in the reckoning of the date of deposit of all the schemes, the government has issued necessary instructions through the circular to banks / other intermediaries which hold PPF accounts for the individuals to treat the date of realisation of the cheque or demand draft by the subscriber as the date of deposit.
This issue becomes particularly relevant in respect of deposits made towards the end of the financial year by cheque / demand draft because if the same is not realised by March 31, then the same will be treated as deposits for the following financial year. This would also have ramifications in respect of the tax deduction being claimed by the individuals in a particular tax year.
Opening an account for a minor :-There have been certain practical hurdles in respect of opening of accounts for minor vis-à-vis some intermediary agencies. This clarification reiterates that as per the rules under PPF scheme, an individual may on his own behalf or on behalf of a minor of whom he is a guardian, open a PPF account. Further, either father or mother can open PPF account on behalf of his / her minor child, but both cannot open the account for same child.
Dear Sir!
Does the above amendment for date of deposit in PPF Account applicable to realisation of cheque for deposit in Provident Fund Account?