'Repeated adjournments are one of the largest contributors to lengthy litigation cycles.'
Those conducting their businesses predominantly in cash and evading income tax have reasons to worry.
Ahead of the Union Budget 2026-27, Indian business houses have urged the government to make demergers tax-neutral, particularly in cases involving transfer of investments in associate companies with 25 per cent or more shareholding, under the new Income Tax Act. This may possibly help some companies planning to go public, according to a source.
This is part of a strategy to mop up as much revenue as possible in the current financial year.
CBDT has been given a collection target of Rs 5.69 trillion in personal income tax in the fiscal year 2019-20 - 19.2 per cent more than the Rs 4.77-crore collection in the previous year.
The income-tax (I-T) department has started scrutinising cases for the assessment year (AY) 2018-19 to determine which of them need to be reopened, a process that might result in a raft of tax notices. This follows this year's Union Budget move to reduce the time limit for tax reassessment from 10 years to five in cases of escaped income. The new provision becomes effective on September 1 and will make past assessments for AY 2018-19 time-barred.
'Tax cases are technical in nature... Many high courts do not have a tax bench, which also contributes to the delay.'
'Among corporates, about 60% of income is now reported under the new tax regime.'
Information technology major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Friday termed the tax demand notices received by several of its employees a "discrepancy," and the tax department will be reprocessing the returns. "We understand that the tax authorities will be reprocessing the returns, post which TDS shall be in sync with Form 26AS issued by the Income Tax Department, and Form 16 Part A issued by TCS. Associates that received the notice will receive a rectification intimation in due course and are not required to pay any demand amount.
Building on last year's clearance of 172K cases, I-T department is pushing for faster appeal disposals, penalty reforms and system-driven processes to curb litigation and boost tax certainty.
With digital technology, the I-T department's ability to catch tax evaders has increased many times.
Master the online ITR filing process and then learn the differences between the old and new tax regimes to pick your best option.
Anil Rego, CEO, Right Horizons, answers your personal income tax queries.
'Global uncertainty is something which definitely occupies the minds of officials when we are preparing for the Budget.'
Taxpayers required to file ITR-2 or ITR-3 can now download the Excel utilities from the I-T department's e-filing portal, fill in their details offline.
Kerala's voters are sophisticated, educated, and unforgiving. They have once again made it clear that no government is entitled to remain in power. The Congress would do well to remember this, points out Ramesh Menon.
Amid the Budget preparation, the revenue department is assessing the feasibility of further adjustments to maximise benefits for salaried individuals.
The CBDT is investigating Jane Street for possibly misusing the India-Singapore tax treaty.
Plans to outsource record-keeping to private entities.
'Personal income tax is growing by 27 per cent and most refunds have already been issued.'
Essar will have to pay capital gains tax, as the company will be gaining from the deal.
To decide whether capital gains on surrender of call options are taxable
Taxmen also claimed that the signature of Siddhartha on the letter being circulated on the social media under his name "does not match" with the record available with the department.
The suspected undisclosed income in these cases could reach as much as Rs 15,000 crore.
'...so cases that arose under the existing Act will be adjudicated under the old provisions.' 'Care has been taken to ensure that the new I-T Act does not give rise to interpretational issues.'
Empowered CIB to play lead role in recovering tax evaded.
Empowered CIB to play lead role in recovering tax evaded.
In October 2024, Jindal Stainless challenged a Goods and Services Tax (GST) notice in the Delhi high court. It was about corporate guarantees issued to related parties by its former group company, Jindal Stainless (Hisar), before their merger in March 2023.
A senior Central Board of Direct Taxes official told Business Standard the Income Tax department had decided to intensify its vigil on the non-payment of TDS on interest earnings and non-disclosure of such income in the tax return.
'Investigation directorates have intensified actions in detecting serious irregularities.' 'They are seriously handicapped because of non-availability of manpower.'
After the income tax department indicated that the Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) did not provide the complete details of transactions worth up to Rs 3,610 crore, sources told Business Standard that this was due to a technical glitch. The bank has now submitted all the required documents in the past few days. According to the Income Tax (I-T) department, TMB had not submitted a statement of financial transactions (SFT) pertaining to cash deposits of around Rs 2,700 crore involving more than 10,000 accounts.
I-T dept has asked for Rs 5,357 crore ($865 million) alleging the company had suppressed its revenue for FY09 to evade taxes
The Budget announcement of zero tax for earnings upto Rs 12 lakh per annum and the rejig of tax slabs across the board should prompt more than 90 per cent of individual taxpayers to embrace the new tax regime as compared to the about 75 per cent as of now, CBDT Chairman Ravi Agrawal said. Agrawal also highlighted the government's focus on "non-intrusive" tax administration through enhanced use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and simplified tax processes for common taxpayers. He emphasized the benefits of the new tax regime (NTR), which offers simple calculations and allows taxpayers to file their ITR without professional help. The CBDT chief stated that the Budget provisions related to income tax payment benefit all income earners, not just those earning Rs 12 lakh per annum, creating a positive sentiment in the economy and propelling growth. The department is also harnessing technology, including AI and data analytics, to widen and deepen the tax base, resulting in increased compliance and tax revenue. Agrawal further highlighted the positive impact of data availability and simplified tax processes on compliance rates, citing examples of taxpayers filing revised returns and paying taxes after being prompted by the department's data analysis.
Total number of income-tax returns filed in 2010-11, both electronically and manually, was around 29.6 million.
Computerisation of the Income-Tax Department has played a key role in raising tax compliance and higher tax collections over the past few years.
CAs not sure if individuals declaring unaccounted money will get immunity from reassessment as these provisions are not covered in the Bill.
While movie stars like Akshay Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan are among the top I-T payers, very few of the wealthiest Indians figure on the list.
On the face of it, there could be a bump up in tax filings, but its impact on tax collections is not that straightforward
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