Monetary limits for filing of appeals by Income Tax Department further enhanced by CBDT

There is a substantial pendency of appeals of the Income Tax Department before various appellate fora. The CBDT is aware of the importance of litigation management and has been continuously working towards achieving the same.

To effectively reduce taxpayer grievances/litigation and help the Department focus on litigation involving complex legal issues and high tax effect, the monetary limits for filing of appeals by the Department were last revised on 11th July,2018 vide CBDT Circular No.3 of 2018. As a step towards further management of litigation by the Government,  the monetary limits for filing Departmental appeals before various appellate fora including ITAT, High Court & Supreme Court have been revised as under:

This will further reduce time, effort and resources presently deployed in litigation to focus on issues involving litigation of substantial value.

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RCJ/HP

Source: PIB

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The Income Tax department has revised Form 16 by adding various details, including income from house property and remuneration received from other employers, thereby making it more comprehensive to help check tax avoidance.

It will also include segregated information regarding deductions under various tax saving schemes, investments in tax savings instruments, different allowances received by the employee as well as income from other sources.

Form 16 is a certificate issued by employers, giving details of employees’ TDS (tax deducted at source) usually by mid June and is used in filing I-T returns.

The revised Form, which has been notified by the Income Tax department, will come into effect from May 12, 2019. This means the income tax returns for financial year 2018-19 will have to be filed on the basis of revised Form 16.

Among other things, the revised Form 16 will also include details of deductions in respect of interest on deposits in savings account, and rebates and surcharge, wherever applicable.

The I-T department has already notified income tax return forms for fiscal 2018-19. Salaried class and those who do not have to get their accounts audited, will have to file their ITRs by July 31 this year.

Meanwhile, the income tax department has also modified Form 24Q, which is furnished by employer to the tax department. It will include additional details like Permanent Account Number (PAN) of non-institutional entities from whom the employee has taken loan for buying or constructing housing property.

Nangia Advisors (Andersen Global) Director Sanjoli Maheshwari said the Form 16 and 24Q have been amended with an intent to make them more elaborative and informative. The same has been done in order to bring the Forms in parity with latest changes made in ITR Forms such as disclosure of standard deduction and exemptions claimed under section 10.

“Earlier, where the disclosure of various deductions were mentioned in a consolidated manner, ranging from 80C, 80CCD, 80E, 80G would now be required to be disclosed separately. These specific disclosures would provide ease to the tax authorities in understanding the various components of income of the taxpayer and thereby, facilitating the conduct of scrutiny more precisely,” Maheshwari said.

The changes in Form 24Q will further help in identifying any fabricated transaction undertaken with an aim of tax avoidance, she added.

PTI

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21 JAN 2019

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has stated that certain news items that appeared in a section of media regarding enmasse issue of prosecution notices to small companies for TDS default are completely misleading and full of factual inaccuracies. CBDT clarified that Mumbai Income Tax TDS office has issued prosecution Show Cause Notices only in a limited number of big cases where more than Rs. 5 lakh of tax was collected as TDS from employees etc and yet the same was not deposited with the Income Tax Department in time.

CBDT said that some defaulter companies and vested interests are deliberately misleading the media to thwart action against themselves. Having deducted tax from employees and other taxpayers and not depositing the same in time in the Government Treasury is an offence punishable under the law. It also affects the interest of the employees from whose salary the tax has been deducted by the unscrupulous employers who have not deposited the same in time in the Government Treasury. If the TDS is not deposited in time, the employee would be ineligible for claiming credit of the tax deducted when he files his own return.

CBDT stated that in last one month, only in 50 big cases prosecution notices have been issued by Mumbai IT TDS office. Out of these, in 80% of the cases the TDS tax default is above Rs. 10 lakh and in 10 % cases, TDS default is between Rs. 5 to Rs.10 lakh. In the remaining 10% cases, TDS default is of more than Rs. 1 crore as detected in the survey. Prosecutions have also recently been launched against 4 big business houses where more than Rs 50 Crore of tax was collected by them from the tax payers and yet not deposited with the Government in time. But such legal and rightful action is being unfortunately projected in the media by the vested interests as if the Department is going overboard to harass small employers.

It would be pertinent to note that in a country of 130 Crore people where around 6 Crore returns are filed every year, only a total of 1400 prosecutions have been filed so far for various offences under the Income Tax Act during this financial year. This, by any stretch of imagination, cannot be termed as mass harassment by the income tax department. Therefore, to say that prosecution notices enmasse have been sent to taxpayers for minor defaults is completely incorrect and misleading, the CBDT added.

PIB

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24 JUL 2018

Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act 1988 as amended by the Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 seeks to prohibit the Benami Transactions irrespective of the method by which the Benami Property is acquired. Such Benami Transactions include transactions in respect of movable as well as immovable properties.

As on 30/06/2018, provisional attachments have been made in more than 1600 Benami Transactions involving Benami Properties valued at over Rs. 4,300 crores.

The Government of India has taken various steps to identify Benami Properties.  The Income-tax Department (ITD) has set-up 24 dedicated Benami Prohibition Units (BPUs) across India. These BPUs are involved in gathering information and matching the same with the data available for identifying the Benami Properties and taking effective action as per the provisions of Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act 1988 as amended by the Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016.

This was stated by Shri Shiv Pratap Shukla, Minister of State for Finance in Written Reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

PIB

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Government Servant

भारत सरकार /Government of India
आयकर विभाग/Income Tax Department
आयकर आयुक्त चेन्नै-3 का कार्यालय, चेन्नै
Office of the Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax-3, Chennai
कमरा सं.410, चौथातल, आयकर भवन, 121, महात्मागांधी रोड, चेन्नै-34.
4th Floor, Main Building, 121, Mahathma Gandhi Road, Chennai-34.

P.N.DEVADASAN, IRS

Principal Commissioner.
Chennai

19/06/2018

To
The Drawing & Disbursing Officer
O/O Dy. Director of IT(INV) Unit III
139, IOC Bhavan I Floor IOC Bhavan Nungambakkam High
Road Nungambakkam Chennai – 600034

Dear Sir/Madam,

Sub: Filing of Returns by every Government Servant – Reg.

As you might be aware, every person who is having income more than Rs.2,50,000 is bound to file his/her return of income. This includes the Government Servants also. However, the data of returns filed indicate that more than 50% of the Government Servants at Chennai are not filling their income tax returns. I hope, you will agree that as government servants, we should abide by laws and to be role models to the common citizens of our country. If we, Government servants ourselves are violating law by not filling our income tax returns, we don’t have any moral right to blame other sections of society.

From this year i.e Assessment Year 2018-19 onwards, the Parliament has amended the Income Tax Act by introducing a new section 234F for imposing late fee on every person who is not filling his/her return of income within the due date. For salaried employees, the due date is 31-07-2018. This means all the salaried employees have to file their returns of income for the Financial Year 2017-18 (Assessment Year 2018-19) on or before31-07-2018. Otherwise they all mandatorily have to pay late fee amounting between Rs.1,000 to Rs.10,000 as per the provisions of Section 234 . Also, a penalty of Rs.5,000 can be imposed under section 271F on them. In addition to this, they can be prosecuted under section 276CC of the Income Tax Act for jail termsvarying between three months to seven years.

It may please be noted that these provisions are applicable to all the persons having gross income (excluding deductions) above Rs.2,50,000/-. It is understood that many persons who are claiming deductions under section 80C etc. (on GPF contribution, Life Insurance Policies, Housing Loan Repayment etc.) and adjustment of Interest on Housing Loan are under the impression that they need not file the return as their net income is below taxable limit and no TDS is deducted from their salary.

Therefore, I request you to kindly intimate and advice all the employees to whom the gross salary paid in the last year is more than Rs.2,50,000 to file their returns of income before 31-07-2018. It may also be noted that all the incomes earned by an employee such as rental income (including subletting of house/s), interest incomes, dividend from Co-operative societies and all such incomes should be declared in their returns of income. Later, if found to have omitted any such incomes, they are liable for separate penalty and prosecution for concealing those incomes.

A copy of this letter may be handed over to each of your employees who draw their salary through you. You may also discuss this issue with the Head of your Office/Department and request him/her to issue a circular to all the employees to file their return of income well in time.

In case of any clarification or suggestions, you may please contact the following Officers: Joint Commissioner Smt. Sumathy Venkataraman (8762300298), Assistant Commissioner Ms. N. Abhinaya (8939744880), Smt. Priya Ramakrishnan, ITO (9445954906), Shri Sundaramurthy, ITO (9445955554), Smt. Malarvizhy Kujur ITO (9962383336) or Shri V. Baladandayutham, ITO (9445954896).

Yours faithfully,

(P.N.DEVADASAN)

Source: Confederation

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There are some complaints that the taxpayers are not being able to log on to the e-filing website of Income Tax Department or not being able to link Aadhaar with PAN because of different names reflected in PAN and Aadhaar database. While technical snags have been removed already, the main reason for failure of people to log in is because of last minute rush and panic in which those who have already logged in want to continue for the entire period for fear of losing it.

In order to ease-out the panic situation, the Government has decided to take the following steps:

• For the purpose of e-filing return, it would be sufficient as of now to quote Aadhaar or acknowledgement No. for having applied for Aadhaar in e-filing website. The actual linking of PAN with Aadhaar can be done subsequently, but any time before 31st August, 2017. However, the returns will not be processed until the linkage of Aadhaar with PAN is done.
• In order to facilitate the e-filing of return, it is also decided to give extension of five days for e-filing of return. The return can be filed upto 5th August, 2017.

PIB

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Rule 10CB for operationalising the provisions of secondary adjustment has been notified by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 15th June, 2017. It prescribes the time limit for repatriation of excess money and the rate of interest to be applied for computing the income in case of failure to repatriate the excess money within the prescribed time limit. Separate rates of interest have been provided for international transactions denominated in Indian currency and in foreign currency. The rates of interest are applicable on an annual basis.

The time limit of 90 days for repatriation of excess money shall begin only when the primary adjustments exceeding Rupees One Crore made in respect of Assessment Year 2017-18 or later, attains finality. Where the transfer pricing order is appealed against by the taxpayer, the time limit for repatriation shall commence only after the appeal is finalised by the appellate authority.

The rule is available on the website of the Income-tax Department (www.incometaxindia.gov.in)

The Finance Act, 2017 inserted section 92CE in the Income-tax Act, 1961 with effect from 1st April, 2018 to provide for secondary adjustment by attributing income to the excess money lying in the hands of the associated enterprise, in order to make the actual allocation of funds consistent with that of the primary transfer pricing adjustment.  The provision shall apply to primary adjustments exceeding Rupees One Crore made in respect of Assessment Year 2017-18 onwards.

PIB

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Ministry of Railways has decided to incorporate downloaded Aadhaar (e-Aadhaar) as prescribed proof of identity at par with printed Aadhaar card as mentioned in the list of prescribed proofs of identity which are valid for undertaking journey in trains in reserved class. Railway passengers may carry anyone of the below identity proof while travelling in reserved class coaches :

1.Voter Photo Identity Card issued by Election Commission of India

2.Passport

3.PAN Card issued by Income Tax Department

4.Driving Licence issued by RTO
5.Photo Identity Card having serial number issued by Central/State Government.

6.Student Identity Card with photograph issued by recognized School/College for their Students.

7.Nationalised Bank Passbook with Photograph

8.Credit Cards issued by Banks with laminated photograph

9.Printed unique identification card “Aadhaar” or downloaded Aadhaar (e-Aadhaar).

10. Ration Card with photograph of passenger travelling.

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New Delhi: The Income Tax department has launched a new e-facility to link a person’s Aadhaar with the Permanent Account Number (PAN), a mandatory procedure for filing IT returns now.

The department’s e-filing website https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/ has created a new link on its homepage making it easy” to link the two unique identities of an individual.

The link requires a person to punch in his PAN number, Aadhaar number and the exact name as given in the Aadhaar card”.

After verification from the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India), the linking will be confirmed. In case of any minor mismatch in Aadhaar name provided, Aadhaar OTP (one time password) will be required,” the department said in its advisory to taxpayers and individuals.

The OTP will be sent on the registered mobile number and email of the individual.

It urged them to ensure that the date of birth and gender in PAN and Aadhaar are exactly the same, to ensure linking without failure.

There is no need to login or be registered on e-filing website (of the I-T department). This facility can be used by anyone to link their Aadhaar with PAN,” it said.

The government, under the Finance Act 2017, has made it mandatory for taxpayers to quote Aadhaar or enrolment ID of Aadhaar application form for filing of income tax returns (ITR).

Also, Aadhaar has been made mandatory for applying for permanent account number with effect from July 1, 2017.

The department, till now, has linked over 1.18 Aadhaar with its PAN database.

While Aadhaar is issued by the UIDAI to a resident of India, PAN is a ten-digit alphanumeric number issued in the form of a laminated card by the IT department to any person, firm or entity.

PTI

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Income Tax Department (ITD) has initiated Operation Clean Money, today. Initial phase of the operation involves e-verification of large cash deposits made during 9th November to 30th December 2016. Data analytics has been used for comparing the demonetisation data with information in ITD databases. In the first batch, around 18 lakh persons have been identified in whose case, cash transactions do not appear to be in line with the tax payer’s profile.

ITD has enabled online verification of these transactions to reduce compliance cost for the taxpayers while optimising its resources. The information in respect of these cases is being made available in the e-filing window of the PAN holder (after log in) at the portal https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in. The PAN holder can view the information using the link “Cash Transactions 2016” under “Compliance” section of the portal. The taxpayer will be able to submit online explanation without any need to visit Income Tax office.

Email and SMS will also be sent to the taxpayers for submitting online response on the e-filing portal. Taxpayers who are not yet registered on the e-filing portal (at https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in) should register by clicking on the ‘Register Yourself’ link. Registered taxpayers should verify and update their email address and mobile number on the e-filing portal to receive electronic communication.

A detailed user guide and quick reference guide is available on the portal to assist the taxpayer in submitting online response. In case of any difficulty in submitting on line response, help desk at 1800 4250 0025 may be contacted.

Data analytics will be used to select cases for verification, based on approved risk criteria.  If the case is selected for verification, request for additional information and its response will also be communicated electronically. The information on the online portal will be dynamic getting updated on receipt of new information, response and data analytics.

The response of taxpayer will be assessed against available information. In case explanation of source of cash is found justified, the verification will be closed without any need to visit Income Tax Office. The verification will also be closed if the cash deposit is declared under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY).

The taxpayers covered in this phase should submit their response on the portal within 10 days in order to avoid any notice from the ITD and enforcement actions under the Income-tax Act as also other applicable laws.

PIB

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