THE FIRST SCHEDULE PART A

THE FIRST SCHEDULE
PART A
APPROVED SUPERANNUATION FUND OR PENSION FUND
[See section 2(6)]

1. Definitions.-

For the purposes of this Part,-

(a)  "employer",  "employee",  "contribution" and "salary"  have,  in  relation  to ¹[Superannuation fund or Pension Fund], the same meanings assigned to those expressions in paragraph 1 of Part B in relation to provident fund; and
(b)  "ordinary  annual  contribution"  means  an  annual  contribution  of  a  fixed amount  or  an  annual  contribution  computed  on  some  definite  basis  by reference to the earnings, the contributions or the number of me mbers of the fund.

2.   Approval  and  withdrawal  of  approval.-

²[(1)  The  Board  shall  within  six months from the date of receipt of the application by it for according approval to  any  Superannuation  fund  or  Pension  Fund,  accord  such  approval,  failing which the Superannuation fund or Pension Fund shall be deemed to have been accorded approval and the Board may, if, in its opinion, the Superannuation fund  or  Pension  Fund  contravanes  any  of  the  conditions  specified  in paragraph 3, withdraw such approval at any time.]

(2)  The  Board  shall  communicate  in  writing  to  the  trustees  of  the  fund  the grant of approval with the date on which the approval is to take effect, and where the approval is granted subject to conditions, those conditions.

(3) The  Board shall communicate  in  writing  to  the trustees  of the fund  any withdrawal of approval with the reasons for such withdrawal and the date on which the withdrawal is to take effect.

(4)  The  Board  shall  neither  refuse  nor  withdraw  approval  to  any Superannuation fund or Pension Fund or any part of a Superannuation  fund or  Pension  Fund  unless  it  has  given  the  trustees  of  that  fund  a reasonable opportunity of being heard in the matter.

3.   Conditions  for  approval.- 

In  order  that  a  Superannuation  fund  or  Pension Fund may receive and retain approval, it shall satisfy the conditions set out below and any other conditions which the Board may prescribe-

(a)  the  fund  shall  be  a  fund  established  under  an  irrevocable  trust  in connection with a trade or undertaking carried on in Bangladesh;

(b)  the  fund  shall  have  for  its  sole  purpose  the  provision  of  annuities  for employees  in  the  trade  or  undertaking  on  their  retirement  at  or  after  a specified age or on their becoming incapacitated prior to such retirement, or for the widows, children or dependents of persons who are, or have been, such employees on the death of those persons;

(c) the employer in the trade or undertaking shall be a contributor to the fund; and

(d) all annuities, pensions and other benefits granted from the fund shall be payable only in Bangladesh :

Provided that the Board may, if it thinks fit and subject to such conditions, if any, as it thinks proper to attach to the approval, approve a fund or any part of a fund-

(i) notwithstanding that the rules of the fund provide for the return in certain contingencies of contributions paid to the fund, or
(ii)  if  the  main  purpose  of  the  fund  is  the  provision  of  such  annuities  as aforesaid, notwithstanding that such provision is not its sole purpose, or
(iii)  notwithstanding  the  trade  or  undertaking,  in connection  with  which the fund is established, is carried on only partly in Bangladesh.

4.   Application for approval.-

(1)  An  application  for  approval  of  a Superannuation  fund  or  Pension  Fund  or  part  of  a  Superannuation  fund  or Pension Fund for any year of assessment shall be made in writing before the end  of  that  year  by  the  trustees  of  the  fund  to  the ³[Board]  and  shall  be accompanied by a copy of the instrument under which the fund is established and by two copies of the rules and of the accounts of the fund for the last year for  which  such  accounts  have  been  made  up.  The  Board  may  require  such further information to be supplied as it thinks proper.

(2) If any alteration in the rules, constitution, objects or conditions of the fund is made at any time after the date of the application for approval, the trustees of  the  fund  shall  forthwith  communicate  such  alteration  to  the  Deputy Commissioner of Taxes, and in default of such communication, any approval given  shall,  unless  the  Board  otherwise  orders,  be  deemed  to  have  been withdrawn from the date on which the alteration took effect.

5. Exemption  of  income  of  and  contribution  to  Superannuation  fund  or Pension Fund from tax.-

(1) Income derived from investments or deposits of an  approved  Superannuation  fund  or  Pension  Fund  and  any  capital  gains arising from the transfer of capital assets of such fund shall be exempt from payment of tax.

(2)  Any  sum  paid  by  an  employer  as  contribution  towards  an  approved Superannuation  fund  or  Pension  Fund  shall  be  deducted  in  computing  his income, profits and gains for the purpose of assessment :

Provided that where a contribution by an employer is not an ordinary annual contribution it shall, for the purpose of this paragraph, be treated either as an expense in the income year in which the sum is paid or as an expense to be spread over such period of years as the Board thinks proper.

(3) Tax shall not be payable in respect of any sum paid by an employee by way  of  contribution  towards  an  approved  Superannuation  fund  or  Pension Fund to which the provisions relating to paragraph 6 of part B of the Sixth Schedule shall apply:

Provided that no such exemption shall be allowable to an employee in respect of any sum which is not an ordinary annual contribution.

6. Treatment of repaid contributions.- 

(1) Where any contributions (including interest  on  contributions,  if  any)  are  repaid  to  an  employee  in  any  income year,  the  amount  so  repaid  shall  be  deemed  for  the  purposes  of  tax  to  be income of the employee for that year.

(2) Where any contributions (including interest on contributions, if any) are repaid to an employee during his life time but not at or in connection with the termination  of  his  employment,  tax  on  the  amount  so  repaid  or  paid  shall, except in the case of an employee whose employment was carried on abroad, be deducted by the trustees of the fund at the average rate of tax at which the employee  was  liable to  tax  during  the  preceding  three  years  or  during  such period, if less than three years, as he was a member of the fund, and shall be paid by the trustees to the credit of the Government within the prescribed time and in such manner as the Board may direct.

7. Deduction  from  pay  of  and  contributions  on  behalf  of  employee  to  be included in the statement under section 108.- 

Where an employer deducts from the salary paid to an employee or pays  on his behalf any contribution to an approved Superannuation fund or Pension Fund, he shall include all such deductions or payments in the statement which he is required to furnish under section 108.

8. Liabilities of trustees on cessation of approval of  fund.-  If a fund or a part of a fund, for any reason, ceases to be an approved Superannuation fund or Pension  Fund,  the  trustees  of  the  fund  shall  nevertheless  remain  liable  to account for tax on any sum paid-

(a) on account of returned contributions (including interest on contributions, if any); and
(b) in commutation or in lieu of annuities; in so far as the sum so paid is in respect of contributions made before the fund or part of the fund ceased to be an approved fund under the provisions of this Part.

9.   Particulars to be furnished in respect of Superannuation fund or Pension Fund.-

The trustees of an approved Superannuation fund or Pension Fund and any  employer  who  contributes  to  an  approved  Superannuation  fund  or Pension Fund shall, when required by notice from the Deputy Commissioner of Taxes, within twenty-one days of the date of such notice,-

(a)  furnish  to  the  Deputy  Commissioner  of  Taxes  a  return  containing  such particulars of contributions made to the fund as the notice may require;
(b)  prepare  and  deliver  to  the  Deputy  Commissioner  of  Taxes  a  return containing-(i) the name and place of residence of every person in receipt of an annuity from the fund;

(ii) the amount of the annuity payable to each annuitant;
(iii)  particulars  of  every  contribution  (including  interest  on  contribution,  if any) returned to the employer or to employees; and
(iv) particulars of sums paid in commutation or in lieu of annuities; and
(c) furnish to the Deputy Commissioner of Taxes a copy of the accounts of the fund to the last date prior to such notice to which such accounts have been made  up,  together  with such  other information  and particulars as the  Board may require.

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¹Subs. the words for "Superannuation Funds" and " Superannuation Fund" in Part-A by F.A.2000
²Subs. by F.A. 1999

³Subs. for "Deputy Commissioner of Taxes by whom the employer is assessable" by F.A. 2000

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