ITR Filing FY 2021-22: Received notice from Income Tax on claiming refund

• Aug 20, 2022
  
  

• The last date for filing income tax returns was July 31. Now the income tax filers are being scrutinised by the department, and refund is being issued by the department to those whose TDS has been deducted in the last financial year. Some taxpayers may have got the refund. But some have got the notice of Income Tax Department. Such a problem occurs when the calculation of income and tax has gone wrong.

Income Tax

CBDT exempts non-resident corporates from TCS on remittances, tour packages

• Aug 20, 2022
  
  

• The income tax department has exempted non-resident corporate entities and firms not having a permanent establishment or a fixed place of business in India from 5 per cent TCS on foreign remittances and tour packages.The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has notified changes to I-T rules and expanded the scope of exemption (that was previously available only to non-resident individuals) under section 206(1G) of the I-T Act.

Tax Deduction at Source

India, others oppose OECD plan on future digital taxes

• Aug 20, 2022
  
  

• India and other developing countries have objected to a provision in a multilateral convention that bars nations from enacting any future digital services taxes such as equalization levy, saying the clause will unduly restrict sovereign rights to make laws, a development seen delaying a global tax deal to address digitaisation challenges.“We should be conscious that any commitment beyond a political commitment, will effectively constrain future law-making powers of sovereign jurisdictions,” according to the comments submitted by the G-24 (Group of 24 countries that includes India) on the Progress Report on Amount A of Pillar One of the proposed OECD/G20 tax deal.

General

Scrapping TCS on sale of overseas tour packages to foreign tour operators to boost Indian players: IATO

• Aug 22, 2022
  
  
  The government’s decision to withdraw the 5% “tax collection at source” (TCS) on sale of overseas tour packages to foreign tour operators could aid the recovery of the pandemic-stricken sector, says the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) — an apex body of over 1,700 inbound tour operators. “The same was earlier withdrawn only for individual foreign tourists but now on IATO’s representation, the government has announced removal of tax, both on individual foreign tourists as well as foreign tour operators (FTO’s). The removal would make the tour packages offered by Indian tour operators to foreigners a bit cheaper and would help provide some succour to the pandemic ravaged sector,” IATO said in a statement.

Tax Deduction at Source

Got I-T Department’s mail after ITR filing: Confirm your income-tax return in 15 days to get refund

• Aug 23, 2022
  
  

• If you are among those who have filed income tax return (ITR) for the last fiscal (AY 2022-23) and the department owes you refund, then you might receive an email from the I-T Department asking you to confirm it. As per the email sent by the department to taxpayers, individuals who have claimed tax refunds in their filing are required to confirm that the ITR filed by them is correct and tax refunds are due to them.
  This confirmation is required to be made within 15 days of receiving the email. While the email does not mention what will happen if this 15-day deadline is not met, some experts say that the taxpayer may get another notice from the income tax department asking for more proof.

Income Tax

Faceless tax assessment scheme to show human face

• Aug 23, 2022

• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is reviewing the operation of its faceless tax assessment procedures to ensure field officers do not make aggressive tax demands and allow natural justice to take its course, a person informed about the discussions in the government said. The review follows an 11 August order by the Allahabad High Court giving instructions about instituting safeguards amid complaints over the system’s alleged over-reliance on data rather than human interaction.

Income Tax

Supreme Court rules that benami law cannot be applied retrospectively

Aug 24, 2022

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled the amended Benami Act, which came into effect on November 1, 2016, applied only prospectively, besides declaring “unconstitutional” one of the provisions of the law dealing with a three-year jail term and a penalty. The jail provision was quashed on grounds of it being “manifestly arbitrary” — something that will provide relief to individuals and companies. Harsh punishments have been awarded under this provision.The court also set aside all action taken before the implementation of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016.

General

Advance pricing agreement pipeline for MNCs clogged

Aug 25, 2022

With as many as 1,000 applications from multinational corporations seeking an element of tax certainty in India remaining unresolved, capital inflows into the real economy from abroad may take a hit. These applications filed under the Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) mechanism are for pre-determination of arm’s length prices for certain periods in MNCs‘ transactions with related parties abroad. The APAs, introduced in 2012 and bolstered in 2014, had initially been effective in reducing tax disputes arising out of transfer pricing adjustments by the taxman. But there has been a decline in its efficacy as the agreements got delayed in recent years particularly after the pandemic, analysts said. They added that at a time when fresh investments by the private sector are key to economic revival given the government’s acute fiscal constraints, the delays in finalising APAs could prove to be costlier. In the past 10 years, about 1,500 APA applications have been filed by multinational businesses in India but only about 420 have been concluded, leading to around 1,000 unresolved applications.

General