Insertion of new section 80CCH.
39. After section 80CCG of the Income-tax Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:––
Deduction in respect of contribution to Agnipath Scheme.
‘80CCH. (1) Where an assessee, being an individual enrolled in the Agnipath Scheme and subscribing to the Agniveer Corpus Fund on or after the 1st day of November, 2022, has in the previous year paid or deposited any amount in his account in the said Fund, he shall be allowed a deduction in the computation of his total income, of the whole of the amount so paid or deposited.
(2) Where the Central Government makes any contribution to the account of an assessee in the Agniveer Corpus Fund referred to in sub-section (1), the assessee shall be allowed a deduction in the computation of his total income of the whole of the amount so contributed.
Explanation.-For the purposes of this section,––
(a) “Agnipath Scheme” means the scheme for enrolment in Indian Armed Forces introduced vide letter No.1(23)2022/D(Pay/Services), dated the 29th December, 2022 of the Government of India in the Ministry of Defence;
(b) “Agniveer Corpus Fund” means a fund in which consolidated contributions of all the Agniveers and matching contributions of the Central Government along with interest on both these contributions are held.’.
Notes on Clauses:
Clause 39 of the Bill seeks to insert a new section 80CCH in the Income-tax Act relating to deductions in respect of contribution to Agnipath Scheme.
It is proposed to insert a new section 80CCH to provide that where an assessee, being an individual enrolled in the Agnipath Scheme and subscribing to the Agniveer Corpus Fund on or after 1st November, 2022, has in the previous year, paid or deposited any amount in his account in the said Fund, he shall be allowed a deduction in the computation of his total income, of the whole of the amount so paid or deposited in accordance with the said Scheme; and where the Central Government makes any contribution to the account in the Agniveer Corpus Fund, the assessee shall be allowed a deduction in the computation of his total income of the whole of the amount so contributed. It is further proposed to define the expressions “Agnipath Scheme” and “Agniveer Corpus Fund” for the purposes of the said section.
This amendment will take effect from 1st April, 2023 and will, accordingly, apply in relation to the assessment year 2023-2024 and subsequent assessment years.
