Citizen Investment Trust (CIT) नागरिक लगानी कोष
Citizen Investment Trust (CIT) लाई नेपालीमा नागरिक लगानी कोष (nagarik lagani kosh) भनिन्छ। यसमा कर्मचारीले आफ्नो इच्छाले आधारभूत तलबको 33%सम्म अवकाश बचतका लागि जम्मा गर्न सक्छन्, र सीमाभित्रको यो रकमले करयोग्य आय घटाउँछ। The Citizen Investment Trust is a voluntary retirement savings scheme employees can join on top of PF or SSF. An employee elects to contribute up to 33% of basic salary, and the contribution reduces taxable income within the shared retirement ceiling.
Also called: CIT, CIT Nepal, Nagarik Lagani Kosh, citizen investment fund
Key facts
- Nature
- VoluntaryThe employee elects it; it is not automatic.
- Maximum contribution
- 33% of basicElected per employee.
- Deduction ceiling
- NPR 500,000Or one third of assessable income, whichever is lower.
- Shared with
- PF or SSFOne ceiling covers all retirement contributions.
Why an employee elects CIT
CIT is the main lever a salaried person in Nepal has over their own tax bill. PF and SSF rates are fixed by law, so the only retirement contribution an employee can choose the size of is CIT. A higher CIT election means lower taxable income and therefore lower monthly TDS, with the money going into the employee's own retirement balance rather than to the tax office.
The catch is the ceiling. Retirement contributions stop reducing tax once the total across PF, SSF and CIT passes NPR 500,000 or one third of assessable income, whichever is lower. Above that point the contribution is still savings, but it buys no tax relief, so an election made without doing the arithmetic usually lands either short of the optimum or past it.
How the optimum is found
The right CIT figure is the amount that takes the employee exactly to the ceiling and no further, given their PF or SSF contribution (the employer's share included) and their assessable income for the year. It changes when salary changes, which is why an election set once at joining is rarely still optimal two appraisals later.
- Start from the employee's annual basic salary and their existing PF or SSF contribution, the employer's share as well as their own: the employer's share counts as the employee's income and uses the same ceiling.
- Work out the ceiling: the lower of NPR 500,000 and one third of assessable income.
- The gap between the existing contribution and the ceiling is the CIT headroom.
- Cap the election at 33% of basic, which is the scheme's own limit regardless of headroom.
What HR has to handle
- Collect the employee's election in writing, and re-confirm it at the start of each fiscal year.
- Deduct the elected amount monthly and deposit it against the employee's CIT account.
- Feed the contribution into the TDS calculation, not just the deduction column. A CIT deduction that does not reduce taxable income gives the employee the worst of both outcomes.
नागरिक लगानी कोष and the other two कोष
Three funds can appear as deductions on a Nepali payslip (तलब पर्ची). Each name ends in कोष (kosh), fund, and only one of them is the employee's choice.
- नागरिक लगानी कोष (nagarik lagani kosh)
- CIT: voluntary, up to 33% of basic
- कर्मचारी सञ्चय कोष (karmachari sanchaya kosh)
- PF: 10% + 10% of basic, fixed
- सामाजिक सुरक्षा कोष (samajik suraksha kosh)
- SSF: 11% + 20% of basic, in place of PF
Word by word, नागरिक (nagarik) is citizen, लगानी (lagani) is investment and कोष (kosh) is fund. PF and SSF are alternatives to each other; CIT is the one an employee elects.
Citizen Investment Trust (CIT), answered
नागरिक लगानी कोष (nagarik lagani kosh): नागरिक means citizen, लगानी means investment and कोष means fund. It is not the same fund as सञ्चय कोष (sanchaya kosh), which is the provident fund.
No. PF and SSF are statutory; CIT is a voluntary election the employee makes on top, usually to reduce taxable income while building their own retirement balance.
Up to 33% of basic salary. Whether the whole of it reduces tax is a separate question, because the retirement deduction is capped at NPR 500,000 or one third of assessable income across PF, SSF and CIT combined.
Yes, and most salaried employees who use CIT do. They are different funds with different rules. What they share is the one tax-deduction ceiling, so the combined total is what matters for tax.
- Citizen Investment Trust Act 2047 and the trust's published employee scheme rules.
- Retirement contribution deduction ceiling per the Income Tax Act 2058.
This page explains general practice in Nepal. It is not legal or tax advice, and statutory figures are revised from time to time. Check the current Act, rule or notice before acting on it.
Related terms
- Provident Fund (PF)कर्मचारी सञ्चय कोषProvident fund लाई नेपालीमा सञ्चय कोष (sanchaya kosh) भनिन्छ। यसमा कर्मचारीको आधारभूत तलबको 10% कट्टी गरिन्छ, रोजगारदाताले 10% थप्छ, र दुवै रकम कर्मचारी सञ्चय कोषमा कर्मचारीकै नाममा जम्मा हुन्छ। The Provident Fund is a retirement savings deposit held at the Employees Provident Fund (Karmachari Sanchaya Kosh). The employee contributes 10% of basic salary, the employer matches it with another 10%, and the combined 20% is deposited monthly against the employee's PF number.
- Social Security Fund (SSF)सामाजिक सुरक्षा कोषSocial Security Fund (SSF) लाई नेपालीमा सामाजिक सुरक्षा कोष (samajik suraksha kosh) भनिन्छ। यसमा कर्मचारीको आधारभूत तलबको 11% कर्मचारीले र 20% रोजगारदाताले हरेक महिना योगदान गर्छन्, र यही रकमबाट उपचार, दुर्घटना, आश्रित परिवार र वृद्धावस्थाको सुरक्षा दिइन्छ। The Social Security Fund is Nepal's contributory social security scheme. Employer and employee together deposit 31% of the employee's basic salary every month (11% from the employee, 20% from the employer), and that pool pays out medical, accident, dependent-family and old-age benefits.
- TDS (Tax Deducted at Source)स्रोतमा कर कट्टीTDS is income tax withheld by the employer from an employee's salary each month and deposited with the Inland Revenue Department on the employee's behalf. It is calculated on annual projected income and spread across the year, not charged month by month in isolation.
- Income Tax Slabsआयकर दरAn income tax slab is a band of annual taxable income that is taxed at its own rate. Nepal's personal income tax is marginal: each rate applies only to the income inside its band, so moving into a higher slab never raises the tax on the income below it.
- Basic Salaryआधारभूत तलबBasic salary लाई नेपालीमा आधारभूत तलब (adharbhut talab) भनिन्छ, र नेपालमा यसको न्यूनतम रकम मासिक रु. 12,170 हो। The minimum basic salary in Nepal is NPR 12,170 a month, part of the NPR 19,550 minimum wage fixed under section 106 of the Labour Act 2074 (Nepal Gazette, 2082/04/05 BS, effective Shrawan 1, 2082). Basic salary is the fixed core of an employee's pay, before allowances, overtime and bonuses, and it is the base every statutory contribution is assessed on.
- Net Payखुद तलबNet pay is the amount that actually reaches an employee's bank account: gross salary minus the retirement contribution, any voluntary CIT election, monthly TDS, and any other authorised deduction such as a salary advance.
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