Online I-T grievance redressal facility launched at 60 offices

Online I-T grievance redressal facility launched at 60 offices

After launching the ambitious e-nivaran facility for online redressal of taxpayers' grievances, the Income Tax Department has now opened these windows at its 60 special offices across the country.

The facility will soon be launched at 100 more such special tax offices, called Aaykar Sampark Kendras (ASKs), as there has been a slight delay in its operalisation at a few centres due to certain infrastructure issues, a senior I-T official said.

"A taxpayer can register his or her I-T related grievance on the e-nivaran link of the department's e-filing portal or can himself go to an ASK and register such a complaint. They will have to fill a simple one-page form and they will subsequently be provided with a unique number to follow the progress of the case," the official said.

The e-nivaran (electronic solution) system was launched by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the policy making body of the Income Tax department, last year.

Taxpayers can register all complaints related to delay in refunds, filing of e-returns, tax deducted at source (TDS), PAN issues, those pertaining to their assessing officer (AO) or any other issue at this facility.

When e-nivaran was envisaged last year, the official said, it was planned that apart from the online mode the facility will be available to people at the ASKs considering the fact that a number of them do not use the internet medium to conduct their business with the I-T department.

"The roll out started sometime back and till now about 60 ASKs have started the facility. 104 more such ASKs will soon have the facility," the official said.

The department is also planning to roll out a faster method to obtain a Permanent Account Number, powered by the Aadhaar database, even as a mobile application is being prepared for filing of I-T returns and other services, the official said.

The complaints received at the ASKs, the official said,

will be fed into the system by the operators and the progress on the issue will be monitored online by the department.

The CBDT had early last year launched the unique e-nivaran module which aims to "fast-track taxpayers' grievance redressal, ensure early resolution by integrating all the online and physical grievances received by the department and keeping track of it until it reaches its logical conclusion".

It started work on this front after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had flagged the issue of un-resolved taxpayer grievances during his review of the department and had asked the authorities to ensure that steps were urgently taken in this regard so that honest tax paying people did not suffer.

The department took the initiative and recently was awarded a central government award for disposing a record 96 per cent grievances or over 20,000 complaints last year.

The Income Tax Department is one of the 20 government organisations' against whom maximum grievances are received on the Centre's online public grievances resolution portal, called the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS).

As part of these measures, CBDT has also made some changes in the I-T Department's establishment last year and nominated officials to specifically look into the issues of grievances even as the post of Member (Revenue) in the Board has been re-designated as Member (Revenue and Taxpayer Services) followed by changes in the name and designation of field officers.

Source:  Zee News

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Detailed Procedure for Registration and Submission of Statement of Financial Transactions (SFT)

DGIT(S)-ADG(S)-2/e-filing notification/106/2016

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Central Board of Direct Taxes

Directorate of Income Tax (Systems)

Notification No.1 of 2017

New Delhi,  17th January, 2017

Procedure for registration and submission of statement of financial transactions (SFT) as per section 285BA of Income - tax Act, 1961 read with Rule 114E of Income - tax Rules, 1962

Section 285BA of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereunder referred to as the “Act”) requires specified reporting persons to  furnish statement of financial transaction. Rule 114E of the Income Tax Rules, 1962 (hereunder referred to as the “Rules”) specifies that the statement of financial transaction required to be furnished under sub - section (1) of section  285BA of the Act shall be furnished in Form No. 61A.  The nature and value of transaction to be furnished by the reporting person under Rule 114E is enclosed as Annexure A.

2. As per sub rule (6)(a) of Rule 114E, every reporting person/entity shall communicate to the Principal Director General  of Income - tax (Systems) the name, designation, address and telephone number of the Designated Director and the Principal Officer and obtain a registration number. The procedure for registration for statement of financial transactions (SFT) was specified in Notification No. 13 dated 30th December, 2016. The functionality for submission of statement of financial  transactions has now been enabled and the earlier instruction is being updated.

3. As per sub rule (4)(a) of Rule 114E, the statement of financial transactions shall be furnished through online transmission of electronic data to a server designated for this purpose under the digital signature of the person specified in sub - rule (7) and in accordance with the data structure specified in this regard by the Principal Director  General of Income - tax  (Systems).  The Post Master General or a Registrar or an Inspector General have the option to  furnish the statement in a computer readable media, being a Compact Disc or Digital Video Disc (DVD), alongwith verification in Form - V on paper.  The statement of financial transactions shall be furnished on or before the 31 st May, immediately following the financial year in which the transaction is registered or recorded.  The statement of financial transaction in respect of Cash deposits during the period 1st April, 2016 to 8th November, 2016 and 9th November, 2016 to 30th December, 2016 shall be furnished on or before the 31st day of January, 2017.

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Process of tax reform will continue says - FM

FM: Process of Tax Reforms will continue and pending GST issues will be resolved soon. 

FM: No Harassment of Small Depositors of Demonetised High Value Notes; 

Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley inaugurates the Two Day Economic Editors Conference in New Delhi 

The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley said that the Government has endeavoured its best to take a number of decisions through a consensus route for the overall growth of the economy during the last two and half years. He said that the present NDA government took over under adverse global circumstances and its challenge was to re-establish the credibility of economic decision making process. But, the Government did not shy away from it and in the larger interest of the country, it tried its best to take as much decisions as possible even at risk but in the overall public interest and to speed-up the growth of the economy. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley was delivering the Inaugural Address after inaugurating the two day Economic Editors Conference (EEC)-2016, here today.

Referring to the recent decisions taken by the Government, the Union Finance Minister Shri Jaitley said that the different sections of the economy have been opened-up for foreign investment, procedures were simplified and every effort was made to ease the environment for doing business in India. The Finance Minister said that the Government recognises the role of market forces in the economy that is why the role of Government discretion in decision making process,whether in case of auction of coal blocks or spectrum etc., was deliberately minimized.

Shri Jaitley said that the Government is working on tax reforms including Goods and Services Tax (GST). Shri Jaitley further said that the Government has initiated a series of measures to ensure that the State subsidies reach the most deserving. He said that the major issues have been resolved and GST will be implemented by April 1st 2017, besides this, parallel reforms are also in the pipe line in direct tax structure. He said tax collection this year is reasonably good, there is spurt in public expenditure and local demand is increasing. Hence there will be positive impact of recent decision of demonetising of higher value currency notes. He assured that people making small deposits for exchanging old currency notes will not be harassed. 

Appreciating Press Information Bureau’s efforts for providing an opportunity to Regional Editors for direct interaction with the decision makers in the Government, Shri Jaitley said that Press Information Bureau has been extremely effective in handling the Government’s communication.

Earlier welcoming the Union Finance Minister, Senior officers and Editors from across the country and other participants, the Director General of Press Information Bureau(PIB), Shri Frank Noronha said that the main objective of the Conference is to provide a platform for interaction between the Senior Finance Journalists from different regions of the country and the Ministers and senior functionaries of the Government of India on key economic issues.  He expressed hope that the Conference would also help in acquiring different perspectives of the relevant context and background behind a particular initiative of the Government. He further said that this exercise of media outreach will pave the way for better and informed perceptions which in turn will benefit and empower people through various columns and reports of the participating media delegates.

The two day conference is being organised by Press Information Bureau in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance. The Main objective of the Economic Editors Conference is to apprise the media persons about the major policy initiatives, achievements and future roadmaps of different core Economic Ministries of the Government of India.  Economic Editors from different parts of the country, along with Bureau Chiefs and Business Correspondents from Delhi are participating in this conference. Besides the Ministry of Finance, Ministries of Commerce & Industry, Railways, Road Transport and Highways, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Urban Development, Information Technology and Niti Aayog, among others are participating. 

The Directorate of Advertising and Audio-Visual Publicity (DAVP) has also put an exhibition on the occasion on “70 years of India’s Independence’’.

Source: CA Club India

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All about Penalty, Levy of Fees, Prosecution & many more on Non-filer of TDS/TCS Returns.

TDS/TCS Return filed after 15.05.2014 may causes Penalty, Levy of Fees and more as per Income Tax Act.  If TDS/TCS Deductor have not yet filed TDS returns for Asstt. Year 2014-15 i.e. Quarter-IV, filed return as early as possible.

As per Section 243E, if a person fails to deliver the TDS statement or TDS return in the prescribed time, then he shall be liable to pay a fine of Rs. 200 per day till the default continues subject to a maximum of the total amount of tax deductible.

What are the Fees and Penalty for Late Filing of TDS Returns ?

Section 234E – Levy of Fees

• Failure to submit e-TDS Statement on time will result in fees on the deductor.
• If you delay or forget to file your e-TDS Statement, fees of Rs. 200 per day will be levied on the deductor, as long as TDS Statement is not filed.
• The levied amount of fee is not supposed to exceed the TDS deductibles.
• Prior to filing of TDS Statement such fee should be paid and it should be reflected in the TDS Statement.

Section 271H – Penalty    Deductor has to pay a penalty ranging from minimum of Rs. 10,000/- to One Lac rupees,

•         If deductor exceeds one year time limit to File TDS Statement.
•         If deductor furnishes incorrect details like PAN, TDS Amount, Payment of Challan etc.

For more details on Consequences of TDS defaults, Click here

Default/ Failure	Section	Nature of Demand	Quantum of demand or penalty
Failure to deduct tax at source	201(1)	Tax demand	Equal to tax amount deductible but not deducted
	201(1A)	Interest	@1 % p.m. of tax deductible
	271C	Penalty	Equal amount of tax deductible but not deducted
Failure to deposit tax at source	201(1)	Tax demand	Equal to tax amount not deposited
	201(1A)	Interest	@1.5% p.m. of tax not deducted
	276B	Prosecution	Rigorous imprisonment for a term for a minimum of 3 months which may extend to 7 years and with fine
Failure to apply for TAN No. u/s 203A	272BB	Penalty	Rs. 10000
Failure to furnish prescribed statements u/s 200(3)	272A(2)(k)	Penalty	Rs. 100 every day during which the failure continues subject to maximum of TDS amount
Failure to issue TDS certificate u/s 203	272(A)(g)	Penalty	Rs. 100 every day during which the failure continues subject to maximum of TDS amount.
Failure to furnish statement of perquisite or profit in lieu of salary u/s 192(2C)	272(A)(i)	Penalty	Rs. 100 every day during which the failure continues subject to maximum of TDS amount
Failure to mention PAN of the deductee in the TDS statements and certificates	272B	Penalty	Rs. 10000

If TDS return is not filed within the specified due dates being 15th July, 2013 for the 1st quarter corresponding to FY 2013-14, the major consequences would be levy interest.

However in case of payments made under sec. 194A, 194C, 194H, 194I and 194J in respect of individual and HUF, only if the turnover or professional receipt exceeds sum of Rs. 1 Crore or Rs. 25 Lacs respectively in previous year, there is a requirement to deduct tax at source.

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Interest, Penalty and Prosecution on failure of TDS Deposit for Asstt. Year 2014-15.

If a person fails to deduct the whole or any part of the tax at source, or, after deducting, fails to pay the whole or any part of the tax to the credit of the Central Government within the prescribed time, he shall be liable to action in accordance with the provisions of section 201 and shall be deemed to be an assessee-in-default in respect of such tax and liable for penal action u/s 221 of the Act. Further Section 201(1A) lays down that such person shall be liable to pay simple interest

1. at 1% for every month or part of the month on the amount of such tax from the date on which such tax was deductible to the date on which such tax is deducted; and
2. at one and one-half percent for every month or part of a month on the amount of such tax from the date on which such tax was deducted to the date on which such tax is actually paid.

Such interest, if chargeable, is mandatory in nature and has to be paid before furnishing of quarterly statement of TDS for respective quarter.
 

Section 271C inter alia lays down that if any person fails to deduct whole or any part of tax at source or fails to pay the whole or part of tax under second proviso to section 194B, he shall be liable to pay, by way of penalty, a sum equal to the amount of tax not deducted or paid by him.
 

Further, section 276B lays down that if a person fails to pay to the credit of the Central Government within the prescribed time, as above, the tax deducted at source by him, he shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall be between 3 months and 7 years, along with fine.

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Salient features of Capital Gain Accounts Scheme-1988

Taxpayee had opened capital gain account after the sale of immovable property and the amount deposited in the account has been used by assessee for the property under construction. Taxpayee have been told by bank to get the application of closing account signed by the IT department of concerned circle. Thus the CBDT Notification No. GSR 724(E) dated 22/06/1988 contains the salient features of Capital Gain Accounts Scheme-1988. Under Rule 13 of the said scheme, the account can be closed by submitting an application in Form G to the bank. The Form G needs to be approved by the concerned Assessing Officer of the Assessee. Without approval of the Assessing Officer, bank will not be able to close the account. You may please further represent before your Assessing Officer with the copy of the Scheme as mentioned above.

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What are the Common mistakes while filling of Income Tax Return (ITR) form and effected on reduction of refund ?

The accurate and complete filling up of the relevant column or detail in the Income Tax Return (ITR) form is most crucial for correct calculation of income by the Income Tax Department. As a general principle during processing, in case of any inconsistency between the values as entered in the Schedules and the cross-referenced values in other Schedules or Totals / Summary in PART B-TI,

• for Incomes, the higher value may be taken and
• for Expenses, Losses or Deductions, the lower value may be taken
  

for final computation of Income. In case of e-returns using Department software these inconsistencies will not arise. However, if you are using other commercially available software for return preparation, please contact the software provider in case of such inconsistencies.

In case the computation of Income or refund is different than what had been entered or what is expected, please verify the accuracy of the data entered by you in the ITR. Except for limited number of complicated tax returns, for most taxpayers, the simple check points are the following:

Salary from all employers, irrespective of whether Form 16 has been issued or not, should be entered in Item 1 of ITR 1 or details in Schedule Salary in ITR 2.

Interest income from fixed deposits, savings bank account etc should be entered in Item 2b of ITR 1 or Item 1b of Schedule OS-Income from Other Sources in ITR 2. The total in Item 2c of ITR 1 and intermediate totals in Items 1e, 1g, and 3 of Schedule OS-Income from Other Sources in ITR 2 should be correctly entered.

House Property Income should be entered in Item 1a, Municipal taxes paid should be entered in Item 1c and the intermediate total should be entered in Item 1e of Schedule HP-Income from House Property in ITR 2.

Income from Short Term Capital Gains should be entered in Item A of Schedule CG-Capital Gains in ITR 2.

Income from Long Term Capital Gains should be entered in Item B of Schedule CG-Capital Gains in ITR 2.

Adjustment of current year and brought forward losses- Schedules CYLA, BFLA and CFL-
Most taxpayers have left these Schedules completely blank. These schedules are used for permissible adjustment of current year loss of one type of income against another type of income and is available only in ITR 2.

Income chargeable to Income tax at special rates- Schedule SI
Most mistakes have occurred in this Schedule since taxpayers have not correctly filled the codes, rates or values. The following points may be considered:

Deductions from Income under Chapter VIA
Most mistakes have occurred due to incomplete details or leaving blank of value of deduction claim in ITR 1 or in the Schedule VIA in ITR 2. In most cases only the total deduction value is mentioned.

Reasons for difference in calculation of Tax or Interest under 234A, B or C and Interest on Refund.

Reasons for mistakes in Credit for tax payments or TDS
A major reason for difference in refund amount during processing is that the details of tax payment or TDS do not match the data available with the Department.

Miscellaneous mistakes
Mistakes in address etc do not affect processing but cause mis-delivery or non-delivery of communication or in case of Bank Account error cause rejection of refund credit to taxpayer account.

How to rectify the mistake and to get the correct refund
Mistakes in the ITR due to any of the reasons may be corrected by submitting a rectification form.

For faster credit of Income Tax refunds, correct bank account number and MICR code in the return should be mentioned. In case of any mistake in MICR or Bank Account number, the refund will not be credited. and a cancelled cheque showing correct particulars would be required to be submitted to CPC for correction in bank account number or MICR code.

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How to claim Exemption of "Tuition Fees" u/s. 80C.

Deduction of Exemptions under Chapter VIA, u/s. 80C Deductions starts and in u/s. 80C Tuition fees exempt. In case "Tuition Fees", the maximum limit of Exemption is Rs. 100000/- and whole amount exempt u/s. 80C is Rs. 100000/-.

Relevant part of the section 80c is reproduced here under.

"(xvii) as tuition fees (excluding any payment towards any development fees or donation or payment of similar nature), whether at the time of admission or thereafter,

(a) to any university, college, school or other educational institution situated within India;

(b) for the purpose of full-time education of any of the persons specified in sub-section (4) "

"(4) The persons referred to in sub-section (2) shall be the following, namely:
(a) ......................
b) .......................
c) for the purposes of clause (xvii) of that sub-section, in the case of an individual, any two children of such individual."

Note:

1. Deduction for tuition Fees is available up to Rs.100000 /-
2. The limit of one lac as above is total limit u/s 80C for all type of savings ,plus section 80CCC(pension policy) plus u/s 80CCD(Contributory Pension Plan). Means the aggregate amount of deduction under above referred sections can not exceed Rs. 1,00,000.
3. The deduction is available to Individual Assessee and not for HUF.
4. The Deduction is available for any two children.
5. This the only clause u/s 80 C where assessee can not claim tax benefit for expenditure done on himself.Means if assessee has paid tuition fess for his studies ,he will not be eligible.
6. Deduction is not available for tuition fees paid for studies of spouse.
7. The deduction is available for Full Time courses only, so no deduction for part time or distance learning courses.(This is my opinion but point is not very clear).
8. The fees should be paid to university, college, school or other educational institution,so no rebate for private tuition.
9. Tuition fees paid for coaching courses for admission in professional courses or any other type of courses are not covered as that fees is not paid for FULL time eduction.
10. The center mention above in point 8 must be situated in India, so location should be in India though it can be affiliated to any foreign institutes.
11. In This section tuition fees has a wide meaning than normal parlance ,means here tuition fees means total fees paid minus any payment towards any development fees or donation or payment of similar nature.so admission fees is also allowed.
12. In My Opinion Transport charges , hostel charges, Mess charges , library fees , scooter/cycle/car stand charges is not allowed.
13. Building fund or any donation etc not allowed.
    

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Prosecution - Offences under section Section 278B by Companies

All tax payee aware from prosecution - offences under section 278B by companies which as under:

1. Every person who at the time of offence was in charge of and was responsible to the company for the conduct of business of the company as well as the company shall be liable to be proceeded against.

2. If it is established that the offence was committed with the connivance of director, manager, secretary or other officer – such persons shall also be liable to be punished

3. In the case of imprisonment and the offence being committed by company, apart from fine on the company, officers responsible shall be liable to be proceeded against.

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