Over 2.09 lakh firms struck off, bank accounts frozen: Govt

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In a major clampdown against black money, the government on Tuesday directed freezing bank accounts of more than 2.09 lakh companies whose names have been struck off from the records and said action would be taken against more such firms.

Banks have also been asked to step up their vigil against those companies that are non-compliant with various regulations and not carrying out business activities for long, a senior finance ministry official said as authorities continue their crackdown against shell entities The official said banks have been directed to freeze the bank accounts of these deregistered companies.

While warning that action would be taken against erring firms, the official said the efforts would help in enhancing corporate governance standards as well as clean up the system that otherwise is prone to be misused.

The names of over 2.09 lakh firms have been struck off from register of companies for failing to comply with regulatory requirements

“The names of 2,09,032 companies have been struck off from the register of companies under Section 248 (5) of the Act. The existing directors and authorised signatories of such struck-off companies will now become ex-directors or ex- authorised signatories,” an official release said

Section 248 of the Companies Act – which is implemented by the corporate affairs ministry – provides powers to strike off names of companies from the register on various grounds including for being inactive for long.

According to the official, since these companies had ceased to be legal entities, there was no reason having active bank accounts which could be prone to misuse.

Once these companies become compliant, banks would activate their accounts, the official added. “Furthering our war against #BlackMoney, banks have been advised to immediately restrict bank accounts of struck-off companies,” Minister of State for Corporate Affairs P P Chaudhary said in a tweet.

The official said a detailed analysis has been initiated to check whether these deregistered companies were used as conduits for channelising unaccounted money into the system, especially during demonetisation.

Amid efforts against shell companies which are allegedly used as conduits for illicit fund flows and tax evasion, the government said the directors of deregistered firms would not be able to operate the bank accounts till these entities are legally restored

About the directors and signatories of the over 2.09 lakh firms, the government said they would not be able to operate bank accounts of such companies till these entities are legally restored. The restoration, as and when it happens, would be reflected in the official records by way of change in the status from ‘struck off’ to ‘active’. “Since such ‘struck off’ companies have ceased to exist, action has been initiated to restrict the operation of bank accounts of such companies,” the release said.

The Department of Financial Services, through the Indian Banks Association, has advised banks that they should take immediate steps to put restrictions on bank accounts of such struck-off companies. “In addition to such struck-off companies, banks have also been advised to go in for enhanced diligence while dealing with companies in general,” the release said.

A company even having an active status on the corporate affairs ministry website but defaulting in filing of its due financial statements or annual returns, among others, “should be seen with suspicion as, prima facie, the company is not complying with its mandatory statutory obligations”. In another tweet, Chaudhary said the ministry is committed “in attaining @narendramodi ji’s vision of eliminating black money”.

Source:DD News

ITR filing date extended to October 31

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Tax payers who were supposed to file their income tax returns by September 30 now have some more time on their hands. The government has extended the deadline to file income tax returns for such tax payers until October 31.

“The ‘due-date’ for filing Income Tax Returns and various reports of audit prescribed under the Income-tax Act,1961 has been extended from 30th September, 2017 to 31st October, 2017 for all taxpayers who were liable to file their Income Tax Returns by 30th September, 2017,” Ministry of Finance said.

This time tax payers will have to quote their 12-digit Aadhaar number or the 28-digit Aadhaar enrolment number while filing the income tax return.

You will have to keep the Form 16, which you got from their employer handy. If you don’t have it, get it asap. Download the Form 26AS from the Income Tax e-filing website. Form 26AS is a consolidated tax statement which states tax credit statement of all taxes received by the Income Tax Department against your PAN number. You will need it to tally with your Form 16.

Availability of the detail of bank accounts in which the refund is to be credited is a precondition for direct credit of refund in bank accounts. Refund generated on processing of return of income is currently credited directly to the bank accounts of the tax-payers. Non-residents, who are claiming refund but do not have bank accounts in India may furnish details of one foreign accounts in ITR for issuance of refund.

Bank accounts details

A tax payer is also required to disclose his/her bank account number along with the IFSC code. However, dormant accounts which have been in use for the past three years or more need not to be mentioned.

Mandatory disclosure

According to the Income Tax Department now, tax payers have to disclose information of cash deposited in their bank account aggregating to Rs 2 lakh from November 11 to 30 December, 2016.

Ensure that ITR is compliant with amount deposited in bank accounts during the period of demonetisation

Besides that, if any assessee has any unexplained income or investments, he has to report such unexplained income in the new ITR forms and such amount will be taxable at the tax rate of 60 percent plus surcharge and cess.

Tax deductions

  • If you are claiming tax deductions under 80C, you should keep the following details handy:
  • Investment details (eg: LIC, PPF, NSC)
  • Home loan
  • LTA
  • Medical

Consequences of Late filing of Return

According to ClearTax, if there are any taxes which are unpaid, penal interest at 1 per cent per month or part thereof will be charged till the date of payment of taxes .Also Penalty of Rs 5,000 may be charged. The penalty is not levied in all cases and depends upon the circumstances of the case.

For returns of FY 2017-18 and onwards, penalty of Rs 5,000 will be charged for returns filed after due date but before 31st December. If returns are filed after 31st December, a penalty of Rs 10,000 shall apply. However, penalty will be Rs 1,000 for those with income upto Rs 5 lakh.
Who has to file?

Every person whose gross total income exceeds the taxable limit must file an Income Tax Return (ITR)

Who has to file?

Every person whose gross total income exceeds the taxable limit must file an Income Tax Return (ITR)

Who has to e-file?

  • Individuals & HUF having total income exceeding Rs 5 lakh or claiming any refund in the return (excluding individuals of the age of 80 years or more who are furnishing return in Form no. ITR-1 or ITR-2).
  • Individual or HUF, being a resident other than not ordinarily resident, having any foreign asset/income or claiming any foreign tax relief.
  • Persons filing ITR in Form no. 3, 4, 5 or 7.

 

Source: Business Today

 

 

I-T Department to focus more on e-assessment to reduce human interface

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The Income Tax Department will focus on widening of tax base and maximise e-assessment to cut down on human interface, according to an official statement.

The Income Tax Department will focus on widening of tax base and maximise e-assessment to cut down on human interface, according to an official statement. Also, efforts will be made by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to exceed the income tax collection target set for current fiscal by use of big-data analytics, said the statement after the end of the two-day annual retreat of central and state government tax officers. The conference also discussed strategies for widening of tax base, with special focus on verification of data collected during demonetisation and SFT (statement of financial transactions).

 “The CBDT aims to add a sizeable number of new taxpayers in the current fiscal,” an official statement said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while inaugurating the Rajaswa Gyan Sangam yesterday, had nudged tax officials to use data analytics to track undeclared wealth and fix clear targets for improving tax administration by 2022. He asked taxmen to clear pendency of cases and create an environment that instills confidence among honest taxpayers and uproots corruption.

Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said that revenue was a cross sectoral subject and required coordination between both the CBDT and CBEC. He encouraged that officers of both CBDT and CBEC to share best practices with each other regularly. The CBDT said that in the conference “it was decided that assessing officers be encouraged to maximise e-assessment in a phased manner and to ensure that work be completed online so that there is complete transparency”. As a step towards effective litigation management, CBDT aims to achieve the twin objectives of substantially reducing the number of appeals and the disputed demand before CIT (appeals), it said.

“The focus is to dispose off 70 per cent of smaller appeals and 30 per cent of high demand appeals including 100 per cent of appeals involving disputed demand of Rs 50 crore and above,” the CBDT said. Strategies for revenue maximisation were discussed at length especially since the CBDT has been tasked to collect revenue of Rs 9.80 lakh crore in the present fiscal. “The officers were urged to utilise data effectively such that the target for collection of Personal Income Tax should not only be met but also be exceeded,” it added. With regard to redressal of grievances, the CBDT said 85 per cent of grievances have been disposed off online through the e-nivaran portal. “There was emphasis on redressal of grievances for both CBDT and CBEC,” the statement said.

It said that special focus should be given to popularise the Operation Clean Money portal such that an environment of voluntary compliance can be created. The indirect tax wing – Central Board of Excise and Customs – discussed issues relating to ease of doing business, litigation management among others. “There was also a Sunshine session to highlight a formation’s initiative in improving taxpayer services or individual initiative outside of the regular area of responsibility,” the statement said.

Besides, Adhia underlined the importance of increasing efforts to garner revenue in light of the data that is available post demonetisation. He also stressed that genuine grievances of taxpayers should be disposed off on priority and taxpayers should be treated with courtesy.

 

Source: Financial Express

Last date for filing of GST returns for July, Aug extended

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Of the 59.57 lakh businesses, who should file return for July, 38.38 lakh had filed their GST returns.

Businesses will have more time to file the final GST returns as the government on Monday extended the last date for filing of sales and purchase data as well as payment of taxes for the months of July and August.

Now sales return or GSTR-1 for July will have to be filed by September 10 instead of September 5 earlier and purchase returns or GSTR-2 would be filed by September 25 instead of September 10 earlier.

 GSTR-3, which is the match of GSTR-1 and GSTR-2, will have to be filed by September 30, in place of September 15.

“GIC (GST Implementation Committee) decides to extend date of GSTR 1, GSTR 2 and GSTR 3 for the month of July to 10th, 25th and 30th September 2017, respectively,” the government said in a tweet.

With regard to August, the date for filing GSTR-1, GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 has been extended to October 5, October 10 and October 15 from earlier September 20, September 25 and September 30, respectively.

The industry has been demanding an extension of the date of filing final GST returns in view of scores of invoices to be uploaded.

The government will shortly issue notification to extend the date of filing returns.

In the initial returns filed in form GSTR-3B, taxes worth Rs 92,283 crore were collected for July from just 64.42 per cent of the total taxpayer base.

Of the 59.57 lakh businesses, who should file return for July, as many as 38.38 lakh taxpayers accounting for 64.42 per cent of the total businesses who had registered in July had filed their GST returns.

Through a notification last week, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) had waived fee for delayed filing of GSTR-3B and had allowed businesses to correct errors in the initial return form while filing the final returns.

It also said entities who had not filed GSTR-3B can file the final returns in GSTR-1, GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 and pay taxes.

Souce: The Tribune India

1% of expected invoices uploaded to GSTN

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There are all indications of a last-minute scramble near Sept 5 deadline and a clamour for extension

About 1% of the expected goods and services tax invoices had been uploaded on the GST Network more than a month after the facility opened, suggesting a last-minute scramble near the September 5 deadline and a clamour for an extension.

 

Only 4.4 million invoices have been uploaded as part of the GSTR 1 return filing, a facility that became operational on July 25.

 

“At least 440 million invoices should have been uploaded. The facility is open for 38 days, but only 4.4 million invoices have been uploaded. In last-minute filing, they will commit errors and the system will not accept the return,” said a GSTN official. Taxpayers would then seek an extension, he added.

 

“We will consider extending the deadline if people face genuine difficulties in filing GSTR 1,” said another official.

 

The last date to file provisional return GSTR 3B was extended from August 20 to August 25 after taxpayers faced difficulties in filing.

 

So far, 39.7 million returns have been filed by the 5.95 million entities registered for the GST in July, excluding those under the composition scheme. Based on this, 20-25% of those registered have not filed tax returns.

 

Experts pointed out taxpayers were grappling with GSTR 3B, the self-declaration form, for the first two months. This did not give them enough time to upload invoices, they added.

 

“People were busy filing GSTR 3B. They will start uploading invoices now,” said MS Mani of Deloitte.

 

Besides, the GSTN does not allow rectification or modification in returns submitted but not filed, making it a better option to wait. “In some cases, punching errors have increased the tax liability of assessees by crores of rupees, resulting in significantly high cash flows because the returns cannot be submitted without paying tax,” said Pratik Jain of PwC India.

 

He added the deadline for GSTR 2 of July was September 10, 2017, however, the offline utility was not yet available on the portal. In addition, there is an issue with the GSTN recognising existing SEZ units that migrated to the GST.

 

Companies were also grappling with filing input tax credit for pre-GST stocks with the offline utility tool unavailable. The government is expected to allow rectification of returns filed to claim credit.

 

With the offline utility for GST TRAN 1 form not available, companies faced difficulty in keying in the details. The lack of a provision for rectification of transitional credit claims may mean companies losing credit.

 

“In many cases, taxpayers had paid tax in cash. Till date, the credits of such cash payments are not reflected in the electronic cash ledger and the payments are shown as pending for banks’ confirmation,” Jain said.

GST relief

 

The government on the recommendation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Friday waived the late fees for the GSTR 3B returns for July, filed after the due date. The announcement comes amid concerns raised over difficulties faced by the industry in filing returns.

 

The Council waived the late fees of Rs 200 (Rs100  each for State GST and central GST) for returns filed after August 25, the deadline.

 

“The Central Government, on the recommendations of the Council, hereby waives the late fee payable under section 47 of the said Act, for all registered persons who failed to furnish the return in FORM GSTR-3B for the month of July, 2017 by the due date,” said the notification.

 

Source: Business Standard

July GST collections of Rs 92,000 crore exceeded target: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

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July GST receipts touch Rs 92,200 cr: Jaitley

Goods and services tax (GST) collections have exceeded estimates in the first month of the landmark levy’s rollout despite a significant number of assessees not having filed returns yet.

“We seem to be comfortable… The redline has been crossed in the first month itself,” finance minister Arun Jaitley said at his briefing on the first set of data on tax collections on Tuesday.

“Not many had thought that the redline would be crossed in the first month itself.” GST, which replaced multiple state and central levies, took effect on July 1.

The total collection under GST for July is pegged at Rs 92,283 crore. Extrapolating Budget targets, the central government’s July tax revenue should be Rs 48,000 crore and that of states Rs 43,000 crore, adding up to Rs 91,000 crore, Jaitley said.“We have exceeded the target,” he said, adding that even after the compensation cess is excluded, the target will still be surpassed when all taxpayers file returns. The last date for payment of tax for the month of July was August 25 and for those seeking transitional credit for taxes paid in the pre-GST era, the deadline was August 28.

Of the total, central GST accounted for Rs 14,894 crore, state GST for Rs 22,722 crore and integrated GST for Rs 47,469 crore, which includes Rs 20,964 crore on imports. IGST is levied on inter-state movement of goods and imports and is equal to CGST and SGST.

The compensation cess amounts to Rs 7,198 crore, of which Rs 599 crore is that on imports.

Jaitley said the total number of taxpayers having to file returns for July stood at 5.96 million if those that registered in August and those opting for the composition scheme were excluded. Of these, the minister said, 3.84 million returns have been filed — 64.42% of the total. This suggests that by the time all returns are filed, the tax kitty could swell further.

IGST will be allocated between CGST and SGST to the extent it has been used for payment of either of them. This allocation will be based on the cross-utilisation report to be received from the GST Network (GSTN), the technological backbone of the system.

STATE COMPENSATION
Exact revenue figures of the Centre and individual states would be known after this exercise, which will be conducted before the end of month. Jaitley said it will have to be seen if any specific state needs to be compensated. The tax collection number would “somewhat increase” with greater compliance, he added.Of the total 7.23 million taxpayers, 5.85 million have fully migrated to GSTN, while 1.38 million are yet to complete procedural formalities. The number of new taxpayers that registered with GSTN up to August 29 was 1.883 million.

“On the face of it, collection of over Rs 92,000 crore in the first month looks quite encouraging, given the fact that GST is still stabilising,” said Pratik Jain, partner and leader, indirect tax, PwC.“It is also to be noted that only 64% of registered dealers have actually done the compliances and therefore the actual collection could go up in next few days. Also, a large component of IGST collected on imports might be used as an offset in coming months and some amount of GST collected would also be given as a refund to exporters. Therefore, while initial trend shows healthy collection, the real picture would emerge over next couple of months.” MS Mani, senior director, Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP, echoed this sentiment.

“The 65% compliance achieved in the first month of GST accompanied with the collection of Rs 92,000 crore is a very good beginning and both the compliance and collections are expected to show a significant upsurge in the coming months,” he said.

GST returns filing: Deadline ends, figures suggest robust collections

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As the extended deadline for filing the first tax returns under the goods and services tax (GST) ended on Friday evening, taxpayers inundated the GST Network (GSTN), the technology back end.
Given that the states’ combined GST tax revenue is estimated to be roughly equal to that of the Centre, a monthly GST revenue of Rs 1.55 lakh crore would meet the projections.

As the extended deadline for filing the first tax returns under the goods and services tax (GST) ended on Friday evening, taxpayers inundated the GST Network (GSTN), the technology back end. However, no official word was available on how many of the 87 lakh businesses registered on the portal filed the returns or paid taxes before the deadline.

Although it is too early to make any estimate, the tax collections under GST seem to endorse the forecast that the new tax will boost government revenues.

When just about 20 lakh of the 87 lakh taxpayers registered on the GSTN portal filed their returns and paid taxes as on Wednesday, some Rs 50,000 crore went to the total GST kitty. The Centre’s indirect tax target for the current financial year is Rs 9.26 lakh crore, which means a monthly average collection of Rs 77,200 crore.

Given that the states’ combined GST tax revenue is estimated to be roughly equal to that of the Centre, a monthly GST revenue of Rs 1.55 lakh crore would meet the projections. This doesn’t appear to be a tall order given the collection trend.

Of course, the GST collections being cited now are gross figures, without deducting the input tax credits that businesses are expected to claim and are estimated to be substantial, given the inherent nature of the new taxation system.

Till Thursday, 25 lakh taxpayers had filed their returns while an equal number had saved relevant details on the portal. GSTN officials told FE that the final numbers on the returns filed and taxes collected would be revealed by the revenue department.

The GSTN has, however, been grappling with a large number of taxpayers who are yet to complete their registration. This would prevent them from filing their return for July. The GSTN had prepared for a potential 39 lakh taxpayers to use the portal for filing tax return on Friday. This, GSTN officials said, was expected as even in the VAT regime half of the taxpayers filed returns on the last two days of the deadline.

Of the total GST amount of Rs 50,000 crore collected till Wednesday, Rs 20,000 crore had come in as integrated GST, which is levied on interstate movement of goods and imports. An amount of just over Rs 5,000 crore had been paid by assessees by way of cess on demerit goods such as cars and tobacco. The remaining Rs 25,000 crore had come in as central GST and state GST, which would be split equally between the Centre and the states.

Last Saturday, the government decided to extend the deadline for filing the interim summarised tax returns to August 25 from August 20 earlier, citing requests from taxpayers and difficulty experienced by states hit by floods.

This came after taxpayers and GST Suvidha providers — IT companies authorised to file returns on behalf of customers — complained that the GSTN system wasn’t accepting the filings.

Separately, nearly 10 lakh have registered on the portal for the composition scheme, which allows simpler compliance for businesses with an annual revenue of up to Rs 75 lakh. Of 87 lakh registered on the GSTN portal, nearly 71 lakh businesses have migrated from the earlier VAT, central excise or service tax regime, while 16 lakh are new taxpayers.

Source:  Financial Express