MINISTRY OF FINANCE

(Department of Revenue)

NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the 19th April, 2018

G.S.R. 383(E).—In exercise of the powers conferred under section 207 of the Finance Act, 2018 (13 of 2018), the Central Government hereby appoints the date of publication of this notification in the Gazette of India, as the date on which the provisions of section 208 of Part XIV of the said Act shall come into force.

[Notification No.2/2018/F. No.M.11011/1/2015-S.O.(E.S. Cell)]

BIPLAB KUMAR NASKAR, Under Secy.

Click here to read and download THE FINANCE ACT, 2018

EXTRACT OF Part XIV OF Finance Act, 2018 (13 of 2018) IS AS FOLLOWS:

PART XIV

AMENDMENTS TO THE PREVENTION OF MONEY-LAUNDERING ACT, 2002

207. The provisions of this Part shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

208. In the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002,-

(a) in section 2, in sub-section (1), in clause (u), after the words "within the . country", the words "or abroad" shall be inserted;

(b) in section 5,-

(i) in sub-section (1), after the second proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-

"Provided also that for the purposes of computing the period of one hundred and eighty days, the period during which the proceedings under this section is stayed by the High Court, shall be excluded and a further period not exceeding thirty days from the date of order of vacation of such stay order shall be counted.'';

(ii) in sub-section (3), for the word, brackets and figure ''sub-section (2)", the word, brackets and figure "sub-section (3)" shall be substituted;

(c) in section 8,-

(i) in sub-section (3), in clause (a), after the words "continue during", the words "investigation for a period not exceeding ninety days or" shall be inserted;

(ii) in sub-section (8), after the proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-

"Provided further that the Special Court may, if it thinks fit, consider the claim of the claimant for the purposes of restoration of such properties during the trial of the case in such manner as may be prescribed.";

(d) in section 19, in sub-section (3),-

(i) after the words "be taken to a", the words "Special Court or" shall be inserted;

(ii) in the proviso, after the words "from the place of arrest to the", the words "Special Court or" shall be inserted;

(e) in section 45, in sub-section (1), -

(i) for the words "punishable for a term of imprisonment of more than three years under Part A of the Schedule", the words "under this Act" shall be substituted;

(ii) in the proviso, after the words "sick and infirm,", the words "or is accused either on his own or along with other co-accused of money-laundering a sum of less than one crore rupees" shall be inserted;

(f) in section 50, in sub-section (5), in the proviso, in clause (b), for the word "Director", the words "Joint Director" shall be substituted;

(g) section 66 shall be numbered as sub-section (1) thereof, and after sub-section (1) as so numbered, the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:-

"(2) If the Director or other authority specified under sub-section (1) is of the opinion, on the basis of information or material in his possession, that the provisions of any other law for the time being in force are contravened, then the Director or such other authority shall share the information with the concerned agency for necessary action.";

(h) in the Schedule, in Part A, after Paragraph 28, the following Paragraph shall be inserted, namely:-

"PARAGRAPH 29

OFFENCE UNDER THE C OMPANIES A CT , 2013

(18 OF 2013)

Section Description of offence

447 Punishment for fraud.".

Government of India Ministry

of Finance Department of

Revenue Central Board of

Direct Taxes

New Delhi, 14th April, 2018

PRESS RELEASE

Requirement for obtaining PAN card u/s 139A of IT Act, 1961 eased for corporate assessees.

In case of a company, an application for incorporation, allotment of Permanent Account Number (PAN) and allotment of Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number (TAN) may be made through a Common Application Form submitted to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). In these cases, the Certificate of Incorporation (COI) issued by MCA contains a mention of both PAN and TAN.

Finance Act, 2018 amended section 139A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and removed the requirement of issuing PAN in the form of a laminated card. Hence, it is clarified that PAN and TAN mentioned in the COI issued by MCA shall also be treated as sufficient proof of PAN and TAN for the said company assessees.

(Surabhi Ahluwalia)

Commissioner of Income Tax

(Media & Technical Policy)

Official Spokesperson, CBDT.

Government of India Ministry

of Finance Department of

Revenue Central Board of

Direct Taxes

New Delhi, 14th April, 2018

PRESS RELEASE

CBDT invites comments on draft notification proposing amendment to Rule 44E, Form 34C, 34D and 34DA as per BEPS Action 5, for improving transparency in tax rulings.

Under Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action 5, exchange of rulings on Permanent Establishment (PE) by Authority for Advance Rulings is required to be done not only with the countries of residence of all related parties with whom taxpayer enters into transaction, but also with the country of residence of the immediate parent company and the ultimate parent company. Therefore, in order to implement the recommendations made under Action 5 of BEPS Action Plan to bring greater transparency in cross national transactions, Form 34C and 34D (Forms for Advance Rulings) are required to be modified so that details such as name, address and country of the residence of non-resident’s immediate parent company or ultimate parent company etc. are captured at application stage itself.

Further, vide Finance Act, 2017, the definition of the term “applicant” for the purpose of Advance Rulings has been amended by substituting clause (b) of section 245N of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act). Therefore, consequential amendments are required in Rule 44E and respective Forms to bring them in harmony with the amendment to the Act.

Accordingly, a draft notification has been framed and uploaded on the website of the Income Tax Department at www.incometaxindia.gov.in for comments from stakeholders and general public. The comments and suggestions on the draft Rules and Forms may be sent by 30th April, 2018 electronically at the email address, ts.mapwal@nic.in.

(Surabhi Ahluwalia)

Commissioner of Income Tax

(Media & Technical Policy)

Official Spokesperson, CBDT.

Government of India Ministry

of Finance Department of

Revenue Central Board of

Direct Taxes

New Delhi, 13th April, 2018

PRESS RELEASE

CBDT notifies the Protocol amending the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) between India and Kazakhstan.

A Protocol to amend the existing Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) between India and Kazakhstan, earlier signed on 9th December, 1996 for the avoidance of double taxation and for the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, was signed on 06.01.2017. The said Protocol has entered into force on 12.03.2018 and was notified in Official Gazette on 12.04.2018.

Salient features of the Protocol are as under:

(i) The Protocol provides internationally accepted standards for effective exchange of information on tax matters. Further, the information received from Kazakhstan for tax purposes can be shared with other law enforcement agencies with the authorisation of the competent authority of Kazakhstan and vice versa.

(ii) The Protocol inserts a Limitation of Benefits Article, to provide a main purpose test to prevent misuse of the DTAC and to allow application of domestic law and measures against tax avoidance or evasion.

(iii) The Protocol inserts specific provisions to facilitate relieving of economic double taxation in transfer pricing cases. This is a taxpayer friendly measure and is in line with India’s commitment under Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan to meet the minimum standard of providing Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) access in transfer pricing cases.

(iv) The Protocol replaces the existing Article on Assistance in Collection of Taxes with a new Article to align it with international standards.

(Surabhi Ahluwalia)

Commissioner of Income Tax

(Media & Technical Policy)

Official Spokesperson, CBDT.

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

(Department of Economic Affairs)

NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the 11th April, 2018

F. No. 5(4)-B(PD)/2018.—It is hereby notified that the deposits made under the Special Deposit Scheme for Non-Government Provident, Superannuation and Gratuity Funds, announced in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs) Notification No.F.16(1)-PD/75 dated 30th June, 1975, shall with effect from 1st April, 2018 to 30th June, 2018, bear interest at 7.6% (Seven point six percent). This rate will be in force w.e.f. 1st April, 2018.

PRASHANT GOYAL, Jt. Secy.