The income tax department on Saturday extended the deadline for filing income tax returns by corporates by 15 days till November 15 for assessment year 2024-25. In a circular, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said the deadline will be extended from the earlier target date of October 31. The new deadline for Assessment Year 2024-25 (for furnishing tax returns for fiscal 2023-24) is November 15.
The income-tax (I-T) department has issued showcause notices under Section 68 of the Income-Tax Act to several startups over funds routed through Singapore, seeking explanations for investments received over the past five years, people familiar with the development said. The department is questioning the source, identity, and creditworthiness of overseas investors in these transactions, they said.
The grievances of as many as 2,500-3,000 taxpayers could be addressed and resolved between October 2 and October 31. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has asked tax officials to dispose of at least 20 per cent of the pending matters during the period. The move comes after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently nudged the income-tax (I-T) department to redress the grievances promptly.
Net direct tax collection grew 13.13 per cent to over Rs 21.26 lakh crore so far this fiscal aided by by higher advance tax mop up, government data showed on Monday. During the year, the government collected Rs 10.44 lakh crore from four instalments of advance tax as against Rs 9.11 lakh crore in the previous fiscal, registering a growth of 14.62 per cent.
The government will introduce a new Income Tax bill next week to take forward the "trust first, scrutinise later" concept, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. In another major reform move, the minister announced that the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the insurance sector will be increased to 100 per cent from 74 per cent.
The BJP received the highest amount in large donations among national parties in the financial year 2023-24, with over Rs 2,243 crore declared from 8,358 donations, according to a report by poll rights body the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The report, based on data submitted to the Election Commission, highlighted trends in political donations above Rs 20,000. The total declared donations to national parties stood at Rs 2,544.28 crore from 12,547 contributions - a sharp 199 per cent increase compared to the previous year.
Paraphrasing Abraham Lincoln, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday described the Union Budget as "by the people, for the people, of the people", and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was fully behind the idea to cut taxes for the middle class but it took time to convince the bureaucrats. "We have heard the voice of the middle class" who had been complaining about their aspirations not being met despite being honest taxpayers, she told PTI in an interview.
The Income-Tax Department on Sunday cautioned taxpayers that failure to disclose assets held abroad or income earned in foreign shores in the ITR can attract a penalty of Rs 10 lakh under the anti-black money law. The department issued a public advisory as part a compliance-cum-awareness campaign launched recently by it on Saturday to ensure that such information is reported by the assessee in their Income Tax Return (ITR) for assessment year (AY) 2024-25.
CBDT has sought explanation from B R Balakrishnan, former director-general of I-T (investigation wing) and former principal chief commissioner of I-T for Karnataka and Goa, who had ordered attachment of CCD's shares when he was in charge of the Bengaluru region. He retired last month.
The Income Tax department on Monday invited public inputs for review of the six-decade old I-T Act with regard to simplification of language, litigation reduction, compliance reduction, and obsolete provisions. Pursuant to the Budget announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for a comprehensive review of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had set up an internal committee to oversee the review and make the Act concise, clear, and easy to understand, which will reduce disputes, litigation, and provide greater tax certainty to taxpayers.
The income tax department has allowed tax officials to either waive or reduce interest payable by a taxpayer, subject to specified conditions. Under the Income Tax Act Section 220 (2A), if a taxpayer fails to pay the tax amount specified in any demand notice, he/she is liable to pay interest at 1 per cent per month for the period of delay in making the payment. The Act also empowers Principal Chief Commissioner (PrCCIT) or Chief Commissioner (CCIT) or Principal Commissioner (PrCIT) or Commissioner rank officers to reduce or waive the amount interest due to be paid.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said she is likely to introduce the new income tax bill, which will replace the six-decade-old I-T Act, in the Lok Sabha in the coming week.
As on April 1, income tax arrears have increased to Rs 43 trillion from Rs 24 trillion on April 1, 2023.
The benefit of the revamped I-T regime will percolate down to every section of the taxpayer and the government expects a 'fabulous' response to it, a top Income Tax official said on Friday. The 2023-24 Budget has proposed changes to the new optional tax regime which provides that no tax would be levied on annual income of up to Rs 7 lakh. It also allowed taxpayers to claim standard deduction of Rs 50,000 -- a move seen as a push for the salaried class to switch to the new tax regime where no exemptions on investments are provided.
'If our Budget allows, we may implement both measures -- making income up to Rs 10 lakh tax-free and introducing a 25 per cent slab for income between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 20 lakh.'
These officers also have been divested of their current duties on charges of violating Rules 9 and 3(1)(xx) of the Central Civil Service Conduct Rules.
It also said that over 1.38 crore entities have already filed their income-tax returns till now.
It said the searches that were launched on July 22 in nine cities like Bhopal, Indore, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Noida and some others are "continuing and further investigations are in progress."
'Going forward, the encouragement would be to move to the new tax regime.'
It is just a question of providing an additional facility to the taxpayer that if he is not quoting PAN and only has Aadhaar, his filing and processes do not get affected, said CBDT chief.
Authorities will allow the country's taxpayers to access the mutual agreement procedure (MAP) for cross-border disputes. This is even if they had settled the case under the direct tax dispute resolution scheme - Vivad se Vishwas - without deviating from the outcome of the scheme, said the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Monday. However, non-resident taxpayers, who opted for the resolution scheme, cannot go for MAP on the same issue, it clarified. MAP is an alternative dispute resolution mechanism under the tax treaties where competent authorities of two countries enter into discussions to resolve tax-related disputes.
CBDT chief also set a monthly target of disposing of pending appeals by sending communication through the e-filing portal and or through emails only.
Finance Ministry issues strict instructions on foreign bank accounts.
CBDT asks for urgent action, especially with respect to recovery of arrears and current demand, to achieve the collection target.
The Central Board for Direct Taxes on Friday said a black money declarant under the PMGKY scheme will be allowed to file declarations under the stipulated Form 1 by April 10, if tax and penalty is paid by the deadline that ends on March 31 (Friday).
In a statement, the CBDT, which is the apex policy making body for direct tax policies, said it has never asked IRS Association or these officers to prepare such a report and no permission was sought by them before making the report public. 'It is unequivocally stated that CBDT never asked IRS Association or these officers to prepare such a report.
The direct tax collections are likely to fall short of the revised Budget target by Rs 650 billion and, in fact, were Rs 150 billion lower than the original estimate for the fiscal
The number of people who file tax returns has also increased by about 65 per cent during this period from 3.31 crore in FY 2013-14 to 5.44 crore in 2017-18 fiscal, the CBDT said in the statement.
The Budget announcement of taxing 'virtual digital assets' or crypto currencies will help the income-tax department measure the "depth" of this trade in the country, know the investors and the nature of their investments and it does not "attach any legality" to these transactions, Central Board of Direct Taxes chairman J B Mohapatra said.
In his first communication to the field formations of the income tax department after taking over, the new CBDT chairman Sushil Chandra has spelled out a seven-point priority list for the department, entrusted to enforce direct tax laws in the country.
Net direct tax collection grew 19.54 per cent to over Rs 5.74 lakh crore so far this fiscal on higher advance tax payment by corporate. The first instalment of advance tax, which was due on June 15, rose 27.34 per cent to Rs 1.48 lakh crore. This includes Corporation Income Tax (CIT) at Rs 1.14 lakh crore and Personal Income Tax (PIT) at Rs 34,470 crore.
Tax returns of 100,000 entities under scanner, as preparation for DTC, say officials.
The government has now made quoting of Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns as well as obtaining a new PAN.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said the Central Board of Direct Taxes is inquiring into alleged leak of tapes of telephone conversations between corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and politicians, journalists and industrialists.
I-T said that the Supreme Court on Friday had only given a "partial relief" to those who do not have an Aadhaar.
Taxpayers with old, outstanding taxes will benefit from the CBDT's new scheme.
Agencies to help get data on assets of taxpayers.
Net direct tax collection grew 21 per cent to over Rs 4.62 lakh crore so far this fiscal, on higher advance tax payment by corporates.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes, the apex policy making body of the I-T department, issued the fresh directives after it recently got a number of complaints from taxpayers and others in this regard.
Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Prakash Chandra, has asked the income tax (I-T) department to hasten court and tribunal proceedings to meet tax collection targets in the coming quarters.
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