PRESS RELEASE

Subject: Relaxation from compulsory e-filing of return of income for assessment year 2012-13 – for representative assesses of non-residents and in the case of private discretionary trusts -reg

Rule 12 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 mandates that an individual or Hindu undivided family, if his or its total income or the total income in respect of which he is or it is assessable under the Act, during the previous year, exceeds ten lakh rupees, shall furnish the return electronically for the assessment year 2012-13 and subsequent assessment years.

2. It has been brought to the notice of the Board that the agents of non-residents, within the meaning of section 160(1) (i) of the Income –tax Act, are facing difficulties in electronically furnishing the returns of non-residents. This is because there may be more than one agent of the non-resident in India for different transactions or a person in India may be an agent of more than one non-resident. Such situations are not covered by the existing e-filing software which functions on the principle of one assessee-one PAN-one return.

3. It has also been brought to the notice of the Board that ‘private discretionary trusts’ having total income exceeding ten lakh rupees are facing problems in filing their return of income electronically in cases where they are filing their return in the status of an individual. This is because status of a private discretionary trust has been held in law as that of an ‘individual’. The existing e-filing software does not accept the return of a private discretionary trust in the status
of an ‘individual’.

4. Accordingly it has been decided by the Board that:

(i) it will not be mandatory for agents of non-residents, within the meaning of section 160(1) (i) of the Income –tax Act, if his or its total income exceeds ten lakh rupees, to electronically furnish the return of income of non-residents for assessment year 2012-13;

(ii) it will not be mandatory for ‘private discretionary trusts’, if its total income exceeds ten lakh rupees, to electronically furnish the return of income for assessment year 2012-13.

F.No.225/163/2012/ITA.I1
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes

New Delhi, the 31st July 2012.

Order under Section 119 of the Income Tax Act. 1961

On consideration of the reports of disturbance of general life caused due to failure of power and further in consideration of the fact that the e-filing of returns for a specified category of individuals and HUF has been made mandatory, the Central Board of Direct Taxes, in exercise of powers conferred under section 119 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, hereby extends the ‘due date’ of filing of returns of income for the Assessment Year 2012-13 to 31st August 2012 in respect of assessees who are liable to file such returns by 31st July 2012 as per provisions of section 139 of Income Tax Act, 1961.

(Ajay Goyal)
Director (ITA.II)

Copy to:-
1. PSto F.M./ OSDto FM/ PS to MOS(R)/ OSDto MOS(R).
2. PS to Secretary (Revenue).
3. Chairman (DT), All Members, Central Board of Direct Taxes.
4. All CCITs(CCA)
5. All Joint Secretaries / Directors / Deputy Secretaries / Under Secretaries of
Central Board of Direct Taxes.
6. DIT(Systems), New Delhi, for appropriate publicity by putting it on
departmental website.
7. The C& AGof India (30 copies).
8. The IS & Legal Advisor, Min. of Law & Justice, New Delhi.
9. The DG,NADT,Nagpur.
10. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, IP Estate, New Delhi-
110003.
11. All Chambers of Commerce
12. CIT(OSD),Official Spokesperson of CBDT.
13. All Cs.lT,CBDT ~\-i\~,\n..
(Ajay Goyal)
Director (ITA.II)

The Prime Minister’s Office has issued the following Press Release dated 30.07.2012

Taxation of Portfolio Investments referred to GAAR Committee

 

The Prime Minister had constituted an Expert Committee on GAAR under the Chairmanship of Dr. Partho Shome to engage in a widespread consultation process and finalise the GAAR Guidelines.

 

There is an additional issue relating to the taxation of portfolio investment, particularly in the context of the amendment made to the Income Tax Act relating to the taxation of non-resident transfer of assets where the underlying asset is in India. It is necessary to have clarity on the tax liability of portfolio investors and Foreign Institutional Investors as a result of this amendment particularly when the investment is made through a registered stock exchange in accordance with SEBI guidelines and purely in the form of portfolio investment.

 

Any clarification needs to be harmonised with the GAAR guidelines and will have to address any residual concerns outside of GAAR.

 

Therefore, the Prime Minister has decided to refer the issue of the implications of this amendment on FIIs and portfolio investors to the Expert Committee on GAAR.

The following Press Release dated 30.07.2012 has been issued by the Prime Minister’s Office

Prime Minister sets up Committee to Review Taxation of Development Centres and the IT Sector

 

Safe Harbour Provisions to be Finalised soon

 

The Prime Minister has constituted a Committee to Review Taxation of Development Centres and the IT Sector. The Committee will engage in consultations with stakeholders and related government departments to finalise the Safe Harbour provisions announced in Budget 2010 sector-by-sector. It will also suggest the approach to taxation of Development Centres.

 

2. The Prime Minister had earlier set up an Expert Committee on GAAR under the Chairmanship of Dr. Partho Shome to engage in a widespread consultation process and finalise the GAAR Guidelines. The response has been overwhelmingly positive.

 

3. While this committee would address concerns on GAAR provisions and would reassure investors about the predictability and fairness of our tax regime, it was felt that there is still a need to address some other issues relating to the taxation of the IT Sector such as the approach to taxation of Development Centres, tax treatment of “onsite services” of domestic software firms, and also the issue of finalising the Safe Harbour provisions announced in Budget 2010.

 

4. Many MNCs carry out activities such as product development, analytical work, software development, etc. through captive entities in India. They exist in a wide range of fields including IT software, IT hardware, Pharmaceutical R&D, other automobile R&D and scientific R&D. These are popularly called Development Centres. Over 750 MNCs have such centres at over 1100 locations in India. The reason for this large concentration of Development Centres in India is the worldwide recognition of India as a place for cost competitive, high quality knowledge related work. Such Development Centres provide high quality jobs to our scientists, and indeed make India a global hub for such Knowledge Centres. However, India does not have a monopoly on Development Centres. This is a highly competitive field with other countries wanting to grab a share of the pie. There is need for clarity on their taxation.

 

5. As far as Safe Harbor provisions are concerned, these were announced in Finance Bill 2010 but have yet to be operationalised with a wide application. Safe Harbour provisions have the advantage of being a good risk mitigation measure, provide certainty to the taxpayer.

 

6. The resolution of the above tax issues requires a comprehensive approach in which other government departments are consulted and industry bodies are taken on board. The overall goal is to have a fair tax system in line with best international practice which will promote India’s software industry and promote India as a destination for investment and for establishment of Development Centres. Therefore, the Prime Minister has constituted a Committee consisting of experts from the Income Tax Department, both serving and retired, who will examine the issues in detail and submit proposals in a short time. An arm’s length exercise of this nature will allay a lot of concerns in addition to the immediate resolution of issues that is necessary.

 

7. For this purpose, a Committee on Taxation of Development Centres and the IT sector has been constituted consisting of:

 

1) Shri N. Rangachary, former Chairman CBDT & IRDA - Chairman
2) Ms Anita Kapur, Director General (IT) – Member
3) Ms Rashmi Sahani Saxena, DIT (TP) – Member
4) Any other officer from the Income Tax Department to be co-opted by the Chairman

 

8. The Terms of Reference of the Committee will be to:

 

i) Engage in consultations with stakeholders and related government departments to finalise the approach to Taxation of Development Centres and suggest any circulars that need to be issued.

 

ii) Engage in sector-wide consultations and finalise the Safe Harbour provisions announced in Budget 2010 sector-by-sector. The Committee will also suggest any necessary circulars that may need to be issued.

 

iii) Examine issues relating to taxation of the IT sector and suggest any clarifications that may be required.

 

9. The Committee will work to the following time schedule:

 

i) Finalise the approach to taxation of Development Centres and suggest any necessary clarifications by 31 August 2012.

 

ii) Suggest any necessary clarifications that may be needed to remove ambiguity and improve clarity on taxation of the IT Sector by 31 August 2012.

 

iii) Finalise Safe Harbour Rules individually sector-by-sector in a staggered manner and submitting draft Safe Harbour provisions for three sectors/sub-activities each month beginning with the first set of suggestions by 30 September 2012. All Safe Harbour provisions can be finalised by 31 December 2012.

 

10. The Department of Revenue will provide all necessary support to the Committee to facilitate its work including office assistance and assistance to facilitate consultations.

The United States Council for International Business (USCIB) has addressed a letter dated 19.7.2012 to the CBDT in which it claims that the GAAR provisions are “extraordinarily broad” and “too vague”. It claims that the uncertainty is causing concern to international investors wanting to invest in India. It has also expressed concern that the 3 Member panel may provide “rubber stamp” approval to whatever the income-tax department proposes. The letter also provides suggestions on how these concerns can be addressed by the Government to provide confidence to investors & taxpayers.

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Press Release dated 23.0.2012 issued by the Ministry of Finance

Income Tax Department Starts Two More Taxpayer Friendly Initiatives : ‘Register for Home Visit’ and ‘Online Tax Help’

 

In order to make the Income Tax Return filing experience even more convenient, the Income Tax Department has started two more taxpayer friendly initiatives ‘Register for Home Visit’ and ‘Online Tax Help’. To avail these facilities, a taxpayer must visit the website www.trpscheme.com and take help of trained professionals either online or at their homes. The taxpayer can choose between ‘online help’ or ‘home visit’.

 

On choosing the option of online tax help, the taxpayer can fill in his tax related query along with his contact details. The online query will be resolved by tax experts through Email or Phone within 24 hours.

 

The taxpayers who choose to register for home visit, will be asked to indicate in short the help required by them and a convenient date and time when the Tax Return Preparer (TRP) can visit them for assistance. The help desk will forward the query of the taxpayer to the nearest available TRP and fix the appointment telephonically. The TRP will then visit the taxpayer and render assistance. The facility is aimed to facilitate taxpayers in filing their return and thereby reducing their cost of compliance. The TRPs are allowed to collect fee from the taxpayers as per the TRP notification subject to a maximum of Rs. 250 per return preparation. The facility for home visit by TRPs has been presently made available in few cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Patna. The facility would be extended to more cities during the next phase.

 

The TRP scheme call center 1800-10-23738 may be called for further information regarding these initiatives.

 

The Tax Return Preparer Scheme is an initiative of the Income Tax Department to help small and marginal tax payers in filing of their Income Tax Returns. This Scheme is applicable to individual and HUF tax payers who can take assistance of TRPs in preparation and filing of their Income Tax Returns. The TRPs are self employed graduates who are trained by the Income Tax Department for filing of Income Tax Returns as well as quarterly TDS statements. The TRPs are authorized to collect nominal charges of Rs. 250 or less from the tax payers for preparing their Income Tax Returns. The Department also pays incentive to the TRPs for preparing of returns of tax payers which is a percentage of the total tax paid as per the returns prepared by the TRP subject to a maximum of Rs. 1000/-.

The United Kingdom Parliament has approved the Finance Act 2012. From an Indian perspective, the Act is interesting for its treatment of “Controlled foreign companies and foreign permanent establishments” given that a similar concept will be introduced in the Indian legislation sooner or later. Also of interest is the manner in which the transfers of “long-term business” is taxed.

The United Kingdom’s HM Revenue & Customs has issued a Consultation Paper dated 23.07.2012 called “Lifting the lid on Tax Avoidance Schemes” to discuss how Tax Avoidance Schemes are created and what steps can be taken to expose them. The Paper also describes proposals for revising and extending the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes (DOTAS) regime.

The Consultation Paper is of great importance in the Indian context in the light of GAAR which is proposed to be introduced w.e.f. 1.4.2013 and the Draft General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) Guidelines which were introduced recently. The Australian Income-tax Department has issued a similar guide on exposing tax avoidance schemes.

Despite the previous clarification, a number of queries have continued to be raised on various aspects of the exemption/ reverse charge on service-tax on Advocates’ services. To resolve all queries, CA Rajkamal Shah, a well known expert in the filed, has provided a comprehensive write up on the subject:

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Press Release dated 20.07.2012 issued by the Ministry of Finance

Exemption of Salaried Employees from Requirement of Filing of Returns for Assessment Year 2012-13

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) vide its Notification No. 9/2012 dated 17th February, 2012 has exempted salaried employees from the requirement of filing the returns for assessment year 2012-13. The exemption is applicable only if all the following conditions are fulfilled:-

• Employee has earned only salary income and income from savings bank account and the annual interest earned from savings bank account is less than Rs. 10 thousand.

• The total Income of the employee does not exceed Rs. 5 Lakh (Total Income means Gross Total Income Less deductions under Chapter VIA).

• The Employee has reported his PAN to the employer.

• Employee has reported his income from interest on savings bank account to employer.

• Employee has received Form 16 from his employer.

• Total Tax Liability of employee has been paid off by employer by way of TDS and employer has deposited TDS with central government.

• Employee has no refund claim.

• Employee has received salary only from one employer.

• Employee has not received any Notice from Income Tax Department for filing of Income Tax return.