My pressure did work: Rahul Gandhi on govt`s decision to roll back EPF tax

New Delhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, Tuesday, took credit for the government's decision to roll back the proposed tax on EPF withdrawals.

“Whenever somebody is being oppressed wrongly or victimized, I tend to try and help those people. I felt salaried people, middle class were being hurt by the government, so I put some pressure on the government,” Rahul said.

Expressing happiness on the roll back of the tax, Rahul said, “My pressure did work.”

Rahul's comments came hours after Finance Minister announced withdrawal of the tax proposal in the Parliament.

"In view of representations received, the government would like to do a comprehensive review of this proposal and therefore I withdraw the proposal," Jaitley said in a suo motu statement in Lok Sabha.

He however stated that 40 per cent exemption given to National Pension Scheme (NPS) subscriber at the time of withdrawal remains.

In his budget proposal, Jaitley had proposed that 40 per cent of the EPF withdrawals would be tax exempt and the remaining 60 per cent would also get the same treatment provided the amount is invested in pension annuity schemes.

This proposal was criticised by the parties and the unions which said it amounted to forcing employees to invest in pension annuity schemes.