The GST Council had in November allowed businesses with turnover of up to Rs. 1.5 crore to file final returns GSTR-1 quarterly
The government has extended by 10 days the last date for filing of final sales return GSTR-1 till January 10 under the Goods and Services Tax, sources said.
Businesses with turnover of up to Rs. 1.5 crore will have to file GSTR-1 for July-September by January 10, 2018, as against December 31, 2017 earlier. For businesses with turnover of more than Rs. 1.5 crore GSTR-1 has to be filed for the period July-November by January 10.
Earlier these businesses were required to file GSTR-1 return for July-October by December 31 and that for November by January 10. For the month of December, GSTR-1 is to be filed by February 10 and for subsequent months, it would be 10th day of the succeeding month.
The GST Council had in November allowed businesses with turnover of up to Rs. 1.5 crore to file final returns GSTR-1 quarterly. Businesses with turnover of up to Rs. 1.5 crore will have to file returns by February 15 for the period October- December and that for January-March by April 30.
Avoiding income tax notices by fudging addresses or shifting residence will now become difficult. Income tax rules have been amended that will allow the tax department to deliver notices to assessees at addresses given by them to banks, insurance companies, post offices etc in case the notice is undeliverable at the address supplied to the tax department.
The government issued a notification dated December 20, 2017 amending the Income Tax Rules to ensure that all notices, summons, requisitions or any other communication issued in your name is delivered to you either via post or e-mail.
As per the notification, in case the communication or notice to be served to the assessee cannot be delivered/transmitted to the available address, as per Rule 127 of the Income Tax Rules, the government may use the address mentioned in the following databases to deliver the communication:
a) Address given by you to the bank;
b) Address given by you to the insurance company;
c) Address given by you to the post office while investing in the Post Office schemes;
d) Address as available in government records;
e) Address available in the records of local authorities;
f) Address of the assessee as furnished in Form 61 to the income tax department under Rule 114D;
g) Address as furnished in Form 61A to the tax department under rule 114E.
As per the earlier norms, the communication to the assessee was sent through post or email at the any of the following addresses:
a) Address available in the PAN database;
b) Address available in the income tax return (ITR) to which the communication pertains to;
c) Address as available in the previous year’s ITR;
d) E-mail address available in the ITR for which communication pertains to;
e) E-mail address as available in the last ITR;
f) Any e-mail address available with the income tax authority.
The notification has been published in the Gazette of India by the Minsitry of India vide Notification No. 98/2017/F. No. 370142/36/2017-TPL
The I-T can now use address of the assessee as available with the banks, post office, insurer or that available in government/local authority records
The central board of Direct Taxes has amended the rules relating to service of notice, summons, requisition or order.
The step widens the scope of addresses that the I-T department can use for delivering any form of communication with the taxpayers.
The I-T can now use address of the assessee as available with the banks, post office, insurer or that available in government/local authority records.
It can also include communication address provided under PAN database, which is meant for filing statement of financial transaction.
The extant rule provides that the I-T could use the address from either the PAN database or a taxpayer’s registered office address.
Experts said the change in rule was to ensure tax authorities can track those asseesses who aren’t reachable at the addresses available with the department.
The rules for implementation of nationwide e-way bill system for inter-state movement of goods on a compulsory basis will be notified with effect from February 1, 2018. This will bring uniformity across states for seamless inter-state movement of goods,” the finance ministry said in a statement.
Ferrying goods across states may get quicker as the GST Council today decided to make rollout of all India electronic-way bill compulsory from February 1, two months ahead of the earlier plan.
“The rules for implementation of nationwide e-way bill system for inter-state movement of goods on a compulsory basis will be notified with effect from February 1, 2018. This will bring uniformity across states for seamless inter-state movement of goods,” the finance ministry said in a statement.
The decision comes after the Council, headed by finance minister Arun Jaitley, met earlier during the day via video conference, to decide upon the advancement of the implementation of e-way bill under the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Under GST rules, ferrying goods worth more than Rs 50,000 within or outside a state will require securing an electronic-way or e-way bill by prior online registration of the consignment.
To generate an e-way bill, the supplier and transporter will have to upload details on the GST Network portal, after which a unique e-way bill number (EBN) will be made available to the supplier, the recipient and the transporter on the common portal.
The Council had decided that till such time as the national e-way Bill is ready, the states were authorised to continue their own separate e-way bill systems. The finance minister had said that system will be introduced in a staggered manner, with effect from January 1, 2018, adding that the document will be made applicable on an all-India basis from April 1.
“It was represented by the trade and transporters that this (lack of national e-way bill) is causing undue hardship in the inter-state movement of goods and therefore, bringing in an early all India system of e-way Bill has become a necessity,” the ministry said.
As a nationwide e-way bill system will be ready for implementation on a trial basis by January 16, transporters can start using this system on a voluntary basis from the same date, it said.
While the system for both inter and intra-State e-way bill generation will be ready next month, the Council decided that states may choose their own timings for implementation of the document for intra-state movement of goods on any date before 1st June, 2018.
“There are certain States which are already having system of e-way bill for intra-state as well as inter-state movement and some of those states can be early adopters of national e-way Bill system for intra-state movement also. But in any case, the uniform system of e-way bill for inter-state as well as intra-State movement will be implemented across the country by 1st June, 2018,” the statement said.
According to Abhishek A Rastogi, Partner, Khaitan & Co, the government should check the system thoroughly so that there is no disruption in movement of goods.
“The fair balance for mandatory inter-state e-way bill compliance from February 1 will have to be maintained. This compliance will reduce tax evasions but may pose some problems for businesses in movement of goods…while compulsory intra-state e-way bill compliance will happen from June 1, the government should be clear whether these provisions will be applicable for supplies which are out of the GST net,” Rastogi said.
Another expert said that the immediate call to advance the implementation of e-way bill reflects that some serious gaps in the system have been noticed by the government.
“The downfall in the revenue on account of GST, goods crossing the state borders unaccountable by few taxpayers, etc. could be the reasons for the early implementation of e-waybill as this form will forcefully make the taxpayer accountable in the absence of matching of invoices which is currently postponed,” Ansh Bhargava, Head Growth & Strategy, Taxmann said.
Due to postponement of measures under the GST such as matching returns, the e-way bill, and the reverse change mechanism, assesses have found a way to avoid paying taxes.
The government it seems is in no mood to lower its guard on the tax collection front as it looks to send notices to GST defaulters.
According to a report in Business Standard, the government is set to issue notices who have failed to file returns.
Due to postponement of measures under the GST such as matching returns, the e-way bill, and the reverse change mechanism, assessees have found a way to avoid paying taxes. This has prompted a hardening stand on revenue leakages, as per a government official.
In July, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) had asked its officers to go easy on taxpayers till GST’s teething problems were solved. But CBEC Chairperson Vanaja Sarna in a letter to his officers has said “sending out notices to those assessees under your jurisdiction who have failed to file returns may be considered.”
GST collections slowed to their lowest at Rs 83,346 crore in October as the integrated GST was used as credit and rates were revised downward, the report said.
The government official further said that reduction in the GST rates for more than 200 items last month might also affect collections. Fearing a slump in revenue collections, the GST Council on Saturday decided to implement the nationwide roll-out of the electronic way bill on interstate movements of goods from February 1 and for interstate carriage from June 1.
CBDT signs first ever two Indian APAs with Netherlands in Nov-2017. The total number of APAs entered into by the CBDT has gone up to 186
CBDT signs first ever two Indian APAs with Netherlands in Nov-2017. The total number of APAs entered into by the CBDT has gone up to 186
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
01-December-2017 11:53 IST
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) signs two Indian Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) in November, 2017
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has entered into 2 Bilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) during the month of November, 2017. These Agreements are the first ever Bilateral APAs with The Netherlands. With the signing of these Agreements, the total number of APAs entered into by the CBDT has gone up to 186. This includes 171 Unilateral APAs and 15 Bilateral APAs.
These two APAs pertain to the Electronics and Technology sectors of the economy. The international transactions covered in these agreements include Distribution, Provision of Marketing Support Services, Provision of Business Support Services, etc.
The APA provisions were introduced in the Income-tax Act in 2012 and the “Rollback” provisions were introduced in 2014. The APA Scheme endeavours to provide certainty to taxpayers in the domain of transfer pricing by specifying the methods of pricing and setting the prices of international transactions in advance. Since its inception, the APA Scheme has been well-accepted by taxpayers.
The progress of the APA Scheme strengthens the Government’s resolve of fostering a non-adversarial tax regime. The Indian APA programme has been appreciated nationally and internationally for being able to address complex transfer pricing issues in a fair and transparent manner.
The move comes at a time when the tax department’s field formations have apparently been on an overdrive after the demonetisation move brought large chunks of supposedly tax-evaded cash into the banking system.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has sent a missive to all assessing officers (AOs) to stick to protocol while pursuing cases of “limited scrutiny” and not resort to “fishing and roving inquiries” in such cases.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has sent a missive to all assessing officers (AOs) to stick to protocol while pursuing cases of “limited scrutiny” and not resort to “fishing and roving inquiries” in such cases. The move comes at a time when the tax department’s field formations have apparently been on an overdrive after the demonetisation move brought large chunks of supposedly tax-evaded cash into the banking system. The department selects cases of “limited scrutiny” — which restricts probe into a single aspect rather than a complete appraisal of tax liability — through Computer Aided Scrutiny Selection (CASS). The data mined include annual information reports and 26AS, which includes tax payment/TDS history. In its latest direction to the assessing officers (AOs), the board said it has come across instances where AOs have ventured beyond their jurisdiction while making assessments in ‘limited scrutiny’ cases by initiating inquiries on new issues without following the due procedure.
“These instances have been viewed very seriously by the CBDT and in one case, the Central Inspection Team of CBDT was tasked with examination of assessment records on receipt of allegations of several irregularities,” the letter said. The CBDT in fact suspended the officer concerned after it was found that there was no reason recorded for expanding the scope of limited scrutiny. Violating standard operating procedure, the officer had not sought approval from principal commissioner for converting limited scrutiny cases into a complete scrutiny case. Moreover, the AO hadn’t maintained the order sheet properly, which gave rise to strong suspicion of mala fide intentions. The purpose of introducing ‘limited scrutiny’ was to curb overarching powers of AOs and improve ease of paying taxes. The CBDT has previously issued instruction to AOs to confine the questionnaire to the specific issues and complete the case expeditiously in a limited number of hearings.
The CBDT reiterated that AOs must maintain “order-sheet” properly by ensuring that the minutes of the hearing in a case are entered along with relevant date. Further, it said that the order-sheet must have entries for each posting, hearing and seeking and granting of adjournments. Order-sheet is meant to chronicle the progress of an assessment case by the concerned official. “Suspension of undisciplined officers clearly conveys the message that the government aims to make India’s taxation regime transparent, non-adversarial and taxpayer friendly. But the established fact is that real picture is drawn from the enforcement and not policy formulation. Hoping that the tax authorities follow the instructions diligently going forward and end the era a tax terrorism,” Rakesh Nangia, managing partner at Nangia & Co said.
