Group 'D' employees of the Central government, including peons and drivers, can heave a sigh of relief as they are likely to get their 40 percent salary arrears in full without any income tax deduction on implementation of Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.

While the Group 'D' government employees will not have to pay tax on arrears, those belonging to higher levels can also claim marginal benefit by filing Form 10E of the Income Tax Returns, said a senior official of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

Among the Group 'D' employees, drivers receive highest salary because of over-time allowance, the tax official said, adding, "even they will fall short of the taxing limit by a whisker."

High ranking officials would not get as much benefit as their Group 'D' counterparts get as they already are in a larger tax bracket and may also be required to pay a "surcharge" on their salaries, Chartered Accountant Subhash Lakhotia said.

The government while approving the Pay Commission's recommendations said 40 percent of the arrears would be paid in the current year, while the remaining 60 percent would be disbursed in the next financial year. The arrears are with effect from January 2006.

On income tax liability on salary arrears, the official said, government employees would be required to pay taxes only on arrears which they would receive during the current year along with the benefits entitled under Section 89 and Rule 21 AA of the Income-Tax Act.

Lakhotia said senior officials "will only get a marginal benefit after filing Form 10E as the income-tax exemption limit for current year has increased."

Unhappy with modified Sixth Pay Commission award, taxmen have pointed out discrepancies in the revised pay scale and have sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention in the matter.

Pointing out the discrepancies in the revised pay scale, income tax officials said when compared with their counterparts in some other departments, it amounted to virtually "lowering of status" of senior revenue officials.

"We are shocked at the decision of the government to ignore recommendations of the Pay Commission to upgrade the pay scale of members of CBDT to Rs 80,000 (fixed), even though the pay scales of Directors General of Police and Principal Chief Conservators of Forests have been upgraded without any recommendation," said a memorandum submitted by the Indian Revenue Service Association.

The Gazette Notification on sixth pay commission can be obtained at the following link
http://pib.nic.in/archieve/others/2008/aug/6th_payNotification.pdf