EPFO's 'retro' lesson

The Mumbai branch of the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is taking a leaf out of the retrospective tax imposed in 2012 by then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. Many Indian companies are complaining that they have received EPFO inspection notices for assessment years as far back as the early nineties. Most corporate lawyers say they have advised their clients to keep employees data for the last seven or eight years but receiving notices for data going back 20 years is unheard of. "Indian government authorities are turning out to be one of the biggest risks after the 2012 retro tax. No wonder so many companies are planning to shift operations abroad to save themselves from harassment," says a CEO who received a "retrospective" EPFO notice.