Taxman Readies for a More Tech-driven Administration

• Jun 30, 2022

• Analytics & new tools are making the tax administration move towards efficient services and comprehensive use of data The influence of technology-based inputs for the taxman is becoming deeper. Its use has grown exponentially as the taxman is using data analytics to increase tax collection, target compliance and improve efficiency of its services. The most visible example of this is online tax filing and the processing of returns.

General

Gift cards, reward points not virtual digital assets, says CBDT

• Jul 01, 2022
  
  

• Gift cards, vouchers, mileage points, reward points, and loyalty cards will be excluded from the definition of virtual digital assets (VDAs), Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a notification issued. This will ensure that these products do not face the tax applicable on VDAs such as cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), introduced this budget.CBDT said the exemption will include gift card or vouchers that may be used to obtain goods or services on a discount on goods, mileage points, reward points or loyalty card under an award, and reward, benefit, loyalty, incentive, rebate or promotional programme that may be used or redeemed to obtain goods or services or a discount on goods or services.

Income Tax

Taxpayers face issues accessing e-filing portal; Infosys taking measures, says IT dept

• Jul 04, 2022

As taxpayers face issues in accessing the e-filing portal, the Income Tax department on Saturday said software provider Infosys is taking “proactive measures” to deal with the ‘irregular traffic’ on the portal. “It has been noticed that taxpayers are facing issues in accessing ITD e-filing portal. As informed by @Infosys, they have observed some irregular traffic on the portal for which proactive measures are being taken,” the I-T department tweeted.

Income Tax

Error in AIS on tax portal? Flag issue, file return

• Jul 08, 2022

• Ahead of the income tax return filing deadline, it may help to check your Annual Information Statement (AIS) on the tax portal and flag any irregularities in it. The government is promising to help in rectifying the problem that may have crept in due to misreporting or because the system may not have been able to fully capture the details. The Annual Information Statement (AIS), which was introduced last year, has details of the tax deducted at source, information on property transactions, dividends, fixed deposits, mutual funds and shares and other securities, which are collated from multiple sources based on your PAN. The idea is to help taxpayers with the in formation that is available with the government and enable them to file accurate returns as some of the details may have been missed by them.

Income Tax

E-filing of updated ITR enabled for ITR 2, 3 for AYs 2020-21, 2021-22

• Jul 15, 2022

• The Income Tax Department has enabled the filing of updated ITR (ITR-U) for ITR 2 & 3 for AY 2020-21 and AY 2021-22 on the income tax portal.
  According to the Income-tax website, “E-filing of Updated ITR u/s 139(8A) has also been enabled for ITR 2 & 3 for AY 2020-21 and AY 2021-22 using Excel utility. Refer details in News section. Please click Downloads | Income Tax Department to access and download the same for clicking respective AY folder. Once Updated ITR is prepared, you can upload the XML/JSON by logging into Income-tax website.” Within two years of submitting their tax returns, taxpayers can make changes as long as their taxes have been paid. The idea of an updated income tax return was initially brought up by the government in the Union Budget 2022. Earlier, ITR 1 & 4 were made available from June 27, 2022.

Income Tax

India seeks changes in pact on taxation with Australia

• Jul 15, 2022

India has asked Australia to expedite amendments to regulations pertaining to the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), in accordance with an understanding reached between the two sides in April, as Indian information technology (IT) companies that operate in that country continue to be forced to pay more taxes than they should. Minister of state for commerce and industry Anuria Patel has told visiting deputy premier of Western Australia province Roger Cook that the amendment should be done at the earliest to stop taxing the offshore income of Indian firms providing technical support there, the commerce ministry said on Thursday.
Both the sides also acknowledged the need for an early ratification of the interim trade deal, or the India Australia Economic Co-operation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which was signed in April. Canberra’s decision to tweak its domestic law to stop such taxation is a part of the India-Australia ECTA.

International Tax

ITR 2021-22: These high-value transactions must be declared in your return

• Jul 15, 2022
  The last date for filing the income tax return (ITR 2021-22) for 2021-22 is July 31, 2022. It is often considered a cumbersome task. However, it is mandatory to file the ITR to avoid the penalty. Even if you do not fall under any tax slab, make sure to file the return. However, certain high-value transactions are required to be declared in the ITR. These transactions attract special attention from the income tax (I-T) department. Here is a look at such transactions:
  

• Any cash deposit or withdrawal over Rs 10 lakh in any savings account must be disclosed to the I-T department. It must also be specified that such a transaction was done in aggregate or at once. The I-T department has set this limit at Rs 50 lakh for the current account.
  The I-T department keeps a strict eye on credit card bills. Their declaration is necessary in the return for monthly bills of Rs 1 lakh or more. If the total credit card bill goes above Rs 10 lakh for a year, it needs to be declared in the form.

  
  
  

Income Tax

Swiss top court quashes move to stall transfer of info to India

• Jul 18, 2022
  
  

• The Swiss Federal Supreme Court has ruled that even if persons who are ultimate beneficiaries have not received any money from secret offshore trusts and numbered bank accounts, the Swiss authorities can still go ahead with sharing such confidential information with India - a stand that has dashed hopes of many resident Indians who were banking on the court to stall, or at least delay, the flow of data to the income-tax department here.
  

  Counsels hired by rich Indians have been arguing before the Swiss courts that such personal financial information has no relevance to the Indian tax office because the latter cannot tax the beneficiaries in the absence of any distribution of funds from foreign trusts.
  The top court, however, has laid down in multiple rulings over the last two weeks that it would not sit in judgement on why Indian authorities have sought information and whether they can claim tax on the back of such data. According to the supreme court, Switzerland will share information if India seeks it without judging the data's ultimate relevance and end use.

General