Hi all,

I have a query regarding the due dates of Form 10 under the EPF Scheme 1952 w.r.t. employees leaving the organisation.

Under section 36 (2) of the EPF Scheme, 1952, “Every employer shall send to the Commissioner within fifteen days of the close of each month a return –
(a) In Form 5, of the employees qualifying to become members of the Fund for the first time during the preceding month together with the declarations in Form 2 furnished by such qualifying employees, and
(b) In such form as the Commissioner may specify, of the employees leaving service of the employer during the preceding month:
Provided that if there is no employee qualifying to become a member of the Fund for the first time or there is no employee leaving service of the employer during the preceding month, the employer shall send a 'NIL' return.”

I and the client are very clear and agree on the due date for Forms 5 and 2 but there is a disagreement w.r.t. the due date for Form 10 (refer clause (b)).

e.g. For an employee joining in Sep-09 the due date for Forms 5 & 2 is 15-Oct-09
But, for an employee leaving service in Sep-09, will the due date for Form 10 be 15-Oct-09 or 15-Nov-09?

My understanding of the Act and my past experience with a number of clients suggest that the due date in such a case should be 15-Oct-09. However, the client is currently depositing the Forms 10 a month late i.e. as per him the due date should be 15-Nov-09.

The logic given by him are the following:
1. He has outsourced EPF Stat Compliance to an agency and his agent says its 15-Nov-09. Also, the agent has been following the same pattern for all his clients and insists that he has never faced any problem in any client’s case.
2. He says that Forms 5 and 10 are submitted with the monthly return under Form 12-A. Form 12-A includes the following reconciliation which explains the difference in contribution from last year’s return:
No. of Subscribers as per last month
(Add): No. of new Subscribers (vide Form 5)
(Less): No. of Subscribers left service (vide Form 10)
Nett. Total Number of Subscribers
Now, considering the above example, in case of any employee leaving service in Sep-09, Salary will be paid to him in Sep-09 (proportionate to the no. of days worked) and hence his contribution should be deposited under the EPF Scheme. Now, if the Form 10 is deposited in Oct-09 along with the return of Oct-09, the employee should be deducted from last month’s count of employees (owing to the words “vide Form 10”), thereby omitting his contribution from the return in Form 12-A.

Anybody having knowledge about the issue please suggest the right approach. An early response will be highly appreciated.

From India, Gurgaon
Actually, In one of my earlier audits about a year and half ago, I came across the same situation where the client was depositing Forms 5&2 on time but Form 10 a month late. The client then was also not agreeing to my recommendation. Fortunately, at that time, I had an indirect contact with an EPF Commissioner who said that my interpretation of the law is correct. An informal phone call with him made the client agree with us. But, this time, although I have mentioned this incident to the client, he is a bit more hesitant to accept my recommendation because of his second logic that I mentioned below i.e. the Reco in Form 12-A. I am unable to suggest how to deal with the Reco.
From India, Gurgaon
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