The Income Tax department on Friday said it has issued refunds worth Rs 88,652 crore to over 24 lakh taxpayers so far this fiscal.
This include personal income tax (PIT) refunds amounting to Rs 28,180 crore issued to over 23.05 lakh taxpayers and corporate tax refunds amounting to Rs 60,472 crore to over 1.58 lakh taxpayers during this period.
“CBDT has, so far, issued refunds of over Rs 88,652 crore to more than 24.64 lakh taxpayers from 1st April, 2020 onwards.
Income tax refunds of Rs 28,180 crore have been issued in 23,05,726 cases & corporate tax refunds of Rs 60,472 crore have been issued in 1,58,280 cases,” the Income Tax department tweeted.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is the apex decision-making body in direct tax matters, administers personal income tax and corporate tax.
The government has emphasized on providing tax related services to taxpayers without any hassles during COVID-19 pandemic and to that end has been clearing up pending tax refunds.
Faceless e-assessment will have no human interface and it’s purpose will be to eliminate instances of “undesirable practices” on the part of tax officials.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Thursday revised the ‘E-assessment Scheme, 2019’ notified on September 12, 2019. The Government notified that now, the e-Assessment scheme shall be called Faceless Assessment.
Now, the National e-Assessment Centre shall intimate the assessee for the conduct of faceless assessment in case wherein notice has been issued by AO.
The Board has also extended its scope to cover best judgment assessments.
E-Assessment was a roadway towards a paperless, faceless assessment stripping away at bureaucratic layers. E-Assessment was earlier tried and tested by the Income-tax Department, before going forth with the E-Assessment Scheme, 2019.
The Board notified that in the notification dated September 12, 2019, in the opening portion, for the word “E-assessment”, the words “Faceless Assessment” shall be substituted. The Board notified the procedure for the faceless assessment wherein the National e-Assessment Centre shall serve a notice on the assessee under sub-section (2) of section 143, specifying the issues for selection of his case for assessment.
Promoting a transparent and fair tax regime, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled ‘taxpayers’ charter’, enshrining rights of assesses in a statute under the Income tax law. With the launch of ‘Transparent Taxation — Honoring the Honest’ platform, Modi also unveiled faceless appeal and expanded the scope of faceless assessment, eliminating physical interface between taxpayers and tax authority.
Step wise process for Faceless Assessment, scope extended to cover best judgement assessment:
Introduction
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has revised the ‘E-assessment Scheme, 2019’ notified on September 12, 2019. Now, e-assessment scheme shall be called Faceless Assessment.
The National e-Assessment Centre shall intimate the assessee for conduct of faceless assessment in case wherein notice has been issued by AO. The Board has also extended its scope to cover best judgment assessments.
What was the E-assessment Scheme, 2019?
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the e-assessment scheme in her Budget speech on July 5, 2019, which was subsequently inaugurated on October 7, 2019.
This was aimed at moving to faceless scrutiny and elimination of human interface in assessment proceedings. The scheme was set to bring in a “paradigm shift” in taxation by eliminating human interface in the income tax assessment system.
The Ministry of Finance vide Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) notification No 61 & 62 dated 12th September 2019 has respectively notified the E- assessment Scheme 2019 & gave directions for its implementation.
E-assessment Scheme, 2019 to be now called as “Faceless Assessment”
Step wise process for Faceless Assessment
By the Notification issued by CBDT on 13th August, 2020, “E-assessment” will be now called as “Faceless Assessment”. Faceless assessment shall be made as per the following procedure:-
Step 1 – Issue of Notice on Assessee
National e-Assessment Centre shall serve a notice on the assessee under section 143(2), specifying the issues for selection of his case for assessment
Assessee may, within 15 days from the date of receipt of notice, file his response to the National e-assessment Centre
Step 2 – Case to be assigned to Assessment Unit
1.National e-assessment Centre shall assign the case selected for the purposes of e-assessment to a specific assessment unit in any one Regional e-assessment Centre through an automated allocation system
2. Where a case is assigned to the assessment unit, it may make a request to the National e-assessment Centre for:-
a. obtaining such further information, documents or evidence from the assesse or any other person
b. conducting of certain enquiry or verification by verification unit
c. seeking technical assistance from the technical unit
3. Where a request for obtaining further information, documents or evidence from the assessee or any other person has been made, the National e-assessment Centre shall issue appropriate notice or requisition to the assessee or any other person for obtaining the information, documents or evidence requisitioned by the assessment unit
4. Where a request for conducting of certain enquiry or verification by the verification unit has been made, the request shall be assigned by the National e-assessment Centre to a verification unit through an automated allocation system
5. Where a request for seeking technical assistance from the technical unit has been made, the request shall be assigned by the National e-assessment Centre to a technical unit in any one Regional e-assessment Centre through an automated allocation system
6. The assessment unit shall, after taking into account all the relevant material available on the record, make in writing, a draft assessment order either accepting the returned income of the assessee or modifying the returned income of the assessee, and send a copy of such order to the National e-assessment Centre with details of the penalty proceedings to be initiated therein, if any.
Step 3 – Draft Assessment Order
1.National e-assessment Centre shall examine the draft assessment order in accordance with the risk management strategy specified by the Board, including by way of an automated examination tool, whereupon it may decide to:-
a. finalise the assessment as per the draft assessment order and serve a copy of such order and notice for initiating penalty proceedings, if any, to the assessee, alongwith the demand notice, specifying the sum payable by, or refund of any amount due to, the assessee on the basis of such assessment, or
b. provide an opportunity to the assessee, in case a modification is proposed, by serving a notice calling upon him to show cause as to why the assessment should not be completed as per the draft assessment order, or
c. assign the draft assessment order to a review unit in any one Regional e-assessment Centre, through an automated allocation system, for conducting review of such order;
2. Review unit shall conduct review of the draft assessment order, referred to it by the National e-assessment Centre whereupon it may decide to:-
a. agree with the draft assessment order and intimate the National e-assessment Centre about such agreement; or
b. suggest such modification, as it may deem fit, to the draft assessment order and send its suggestions to the National e-assessment Centre;
3. National e-assessment Centre shall, upon receiving concurrence of the review unit, follow the procedure laid down in sub point (a) or (b) of point (1), as the case may be
4. National e-assessment Centre shall, upon receiving modification suggestions from the review unit, communicate the same to the Assessment unit
5. Assessment unit shall, after considering the modifications suggested by the Review unit, send the final draft assessment order to the National e-assessment Centre
6. The National e-assessment Centre shall, upon receiving final draft assessment order, follow the procedure laid down in sub point (a) or (b) of point (1),as the case may be
7. The assessee may, in a case where show-cause notice has been served upon him, furnish his response to the National e-assessment Centre on or before the date and time specified in the notice
8. The National e-assessment Centre shall,-
a. in a case where no response to the show-cause notice is received, finalise the assessment as per the draft assessment order; or
b. in any other case, send the response received from the assessee to the assessment unit;
9. The assessment unit shall, after taking into account the response furnished by the assessee, make a revised draft assessment order and send it to the National e-assessment Centre
Step 4 – Final Order and Completion of Assessment
The National e-assessment Centre shall, upon receiving the revised draft assessment order:-
a. in case no modification prejudicial to the interest of the assessee is proposed with reference to the draft assessment order, finalise the assessment or
b. in case a modification prejudicial to the interest of the assessee is proposed with reference to the draft assessment order, provide an opportunity to the assessee
c. the response furnished by the assessee shall be dealt with as per the procedure laid down in point 7, 8, 9 of Step 3
2. The National e-assessment Centre shall, after completion of assessment, transfer all the electronic records of the case to the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction over such case for:
a. imposition of penalty
b. collection and recovery of demand
c. rectification of mistake;
d. giving effect to appellate orders
e. submission of remand report, or any other report to be furnished, or any representation to be made, or any record to be produced before the Commissioner (Appeals), Appellate Tribunal or Courts, as the case may be
f. proposal seeking sanction for launch of prosecution and filing of complaint before the Court;
3. National e-assessment Centre may at any stage of the assessment, if considered necessary, transfer the case to the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction over such case.
Faceless assessment facility was extended to the entire country on 13th August, 2020, ending territorial jurisdiction and individual discretion, where an officer was the whole and sole to the assessee. Scrutiny will be allotted on a random basis. Assessment of a taxpayer in Delhi could well be carried by an officer sitting in Pune. It will put an end to needless litigation. Best Judgements Assessments under Section 144 will be also now covered under Faceless Assessment.
What is the meaning of Best Judgement Assessment?
The Best Judgment Assessment is a procedure under the Income Tax Act to comply with the principles of natural justice. Vide Section 144 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 the Assessing Officer is under an obligation to make an assessment of the total income or less to the best of his judgment in the following cases:
If the person fails to file a return required under section 139(1) and he has not filed a revised return.
If any person fails to comply with all the terms and conditions stipulated under a notice under section 142 or fails to comply with the directions requiring him to get his accounts audited in terms of section 142(2A).
If any person, after having filed a return fails to comply with all the terms of a notice under section 143(2) requiring his presence or production of evidence and documents; or
If the Assessing officer is not satisfied about the correctness and the completion of the accounts of the assessee if no method of accounting has been regularly employed by the assessee.
While Faceless Assessment and Taxpayers Charter came in force already, Faceless Appeal will be available from September 25, 2020. Under the Faceless Appeals system introduced by the government, appeals will be randomly allotted to any officer across the country and the identity of the officer deciding the appeal will remain unknown. The decisions will be team-based.
Very Important update for Charitable Trusts and Exempt Institution registered under section 80G, 12A or section 12AA : New – Fresh Registration Required : Last Date 31.12.2020
All Charitable trusts and exempt institution which are already registered under section 80G, 12A or section 12AA of Income Tax Act, 1961 will now be required to obtain FRESH REGISTRATION by December 31, 2020.
Provisions of registration under section 80G, 12AA or section 12A will be redundant from 31st December, 2020 and a new section 12AB will come into force with effect from 01st January 2021.
All the existing registered trusts under the erstwhile section 80G, 12A or section 12AA would move to new provision section 12AB.
The new section 12AB proposes to change the registration process by prescribing the time frame for processing the application and validity of such a registration certificate so granted under the new section 12AB.
An order granting registration or approval shall be passed within 3 months of the application. Such registration or approval shall be valid for 5 years.
Similarly, charitable trusts and exempt institutions which already have Section 80G certificate will now be required to reapply for registration or approval by December 31, 2020.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Wednesday (July 29) extended the deadline for filing income tax returns for 2018-19 fiscal till September 30 due to corona virus COVID-19 pandemic.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Wednesday (July 29) extended the deadline for filing income tax returns for 2018-19 fiscal till September 30 due to coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.
“In view of the constraints due to the Covid pandemic & to further ease compliances for taxpayers, CBDT extends the due date for filing of Income Tax Returns for FY 2018-19 (AY 2019-20) from 31st July, 2020 to 30th September, 2020,” the Income Tax Department said in a tweet.
It is to be noted that this is the third extension given by the Centre to taxpayers to file both original and revised tax returns for 2018-19 fiscal.
In March, the Centre had extended the due date from March 31 to June 30 due to corona virus COVID-19 pandemic. Later in June, the date was again extended by a month till July 31.
If an individual fails to file the belated ITR, if due, by the deadline (i.e., September 30, 2020), then he/she will not be able to file the income tax return for the financial year 2018-19.
The CBDT has said that an individual can also file a revised ITR for FY2018-19 within this deadline.
The Income Tax department’s data analysis has identified certain taxpayers with high value transactions who have not filed ITR for AY 2019-20 (i.e. FY 2018-19). In addition to the non-filers, another set of return filers have also been identified wherein the high-value transactions do not appear to be in line with their Income Tax Return.
The Board said that the objective of the e-campaign is to facilitate taxpayers to validate their financial transaction information against information available with the IT department and promote voluntary compliance, especially for the assesses for the FY 2018-19 so that they do not need to get into notice and scrutiny process.
Under this e-campaign the Income Tax Department will send email/sms to identified taxpayers to verify their financial transactions related information received by the I-T department from various sources such as Statement of Financial Transactions (SFT), Tax Deduction at Source (TDS), Tax Collection at Source TCS), Foreign Remittances (Form 15CC) etc,” CBDT said.
It added that the department has collected information related to GST, exports, imports and transactions in securities, derivatives, commodities and mutual funds under information triangulation set up.
The campaign is scheduled for 11 days starting from July 20, 2020 and ending on July 31, 2020.
With the new e-campaign, the taxpayers will be able to access details of their high value transactions on the designated portal. They will also be able to submit online response by selecting among any of these options:
(i) Information is correct,
(ii) Information is not fully correct,
(iii) Information related to other person/year,
(iv) Information is duplicate/included in other displayed information, and
(v) Information is denied.
Also, department has clarified that there would be no need to visit any Income Tax office, as the response has to be submitted online.
This is a dual way move of the department, on one hand this will get more assessees under scrutiny and thus help in identifying defaulters. While on the other hand this will increase the speed of process and avoid unnecessary mental harassment of the assessees.
It may be noted that the last date for filing as well as revising the Income Tax Return for Assessment Year 2019-20 (relevant to FY 2018-19) is 31st July 2020.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued refunds worth Rs 71,229 crore in more than 21.24 lakh cases upto 11th July, 2020, to help taxpayers with liquidity during COVID-19 pandemic, since the Government’s decision of 8th April, 2020 to issue pending income tax refunds at the earliest.
Income tax refunds amounting to Rs. 24,603 crore have been issued in 19.79 lakh cases to taxpayers and corporate tax refunds amounting to Rs. 46,626 crore in 1.45 lakh cases have been issued to taxpayers during COVID-19.
It is stated that the government has laid great emphasis on providing tax related services to the taxpayers without any hassles and is aware that during these difficult times of COVID-19 pandemic, many of the taxpayers are waiting to see that their tax demands and refunds reach finality as quickly as possible.
It is further emphasized that all the refund related cleaning up of the tax demands are being taken up on priority and is likely to be completed by 31st August, 2020.
Also, all applications for rectifications and for giving effect to appeal orders are to be uploaded on the ITBA.
It has been decided to do all the work of rectification and appeal effect on ITBA only.
It is reiterated that taxpayers, for quick processing of their refunds, should provide immediate response to the emails of I-T Department.
A quick response from the taxpayer in this regard would facilitate the I-T Department to process their refunds expeditiously.
Many taxpayers have submitted their responses electronically for rectification, appeal effects or tax credits. These are being attended to in a time bound manner.
All refunds have been issued online and directly into the bank accounts of the taxpayers.
-Through this one time relaxation scheme, ITR for FY 2014-15 to FY 2018-19 can be verified, on or before 30th September 2020. – All such verified ITRs shall be processed on or before 31st December 2020. – ITRs can be verified digitally through EVC or by sending duly signed a copy to CPC Bangalore.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Monday notified the one-time relaxation for verification of tax return for the Assessment Year 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, which are pending due to non-filing of ITR- V form and processing of such returns.
It has been brought to the notice of CBDT that a large number of electronically filed ITR still remains pending with the Income-Tax Department for want of receipt of a valid ITR-V Form at CPC, Bengaluru from the taxpayers concerned.
In law, consequences of non-filing the ITR-V within the time allowed is significant as such a return is/can be declared Non-est in law. Thereafter, all the consequences for non-filing a tax return, as specified in the Income-tax Act,1961 follow.
“The CBDT, in the exercise of powers under section 119 of the Act, in case of returns for Assessment Years 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 which were uploaded electronically by the taxpayer within the time allowed under section 139 of the Act and which have remained incomplete due to non-submission of ITR-V Form for verification, hereby permits verification of such returns either by sending a duly signed physical copy of ITR-V to CPC, Bengaluru through speed post or through EVC/OTP modes as listed in para 1 above.
Such verification process must be completed by 30.09.2020,” the circular said.
However, the circular clarified that this relaxation shall not apply in those cases, where during the intervening period, the Income Tax Department has already taken recourse to any other measure as specified in the Act for ensuring filing of a tax return by the taxpayer concerned after declaring the return as Non-est.
“CBDT also relaxes the time-frame for issuing the intimation as provided in the second proviso to sub-section (1) of Section 143 of the Act and directs that such returns shall be processed by 31.12.2020 and intimation of processing of such returns shall be sent to the taxpayer concerned as per the laid down procedure.
In refund cases, while determining the interest, provision of section 244A (2) of the Act would apply,” the circular said.
The Income Tax department on Friday said it has issued refunds worth Rs 88,652 crore to over 24 lakh taxpayers so far this fiscal.
