Ministry of Finance

Clarification on FRDI Bill

No decision taken to reintroduce the FRDI Bill

Dated: 27 JUL 2020

The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017 (FRDI Bill) was introduced in Lok Sabha on 10^th August, 2017 and, thereafter, was referred to the Joint Committee of Parliament for examination and report thereon.

The Government had withdrawn the FRDI Bill in August, 2018 for further comprehensive examination and reconsideration of the subject.

There are some media reports about reintroduction of the FRDI Bill. This is to clarify that the Government has not taken any decision to reintroduce the FRDI Bill.

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RM/KMN

(Release ID: 1641568)

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry Of Law & Justice

Dated: 25 JUL 2020

ITAT allows exemption of Rs 220 cr to Tata Education & Development Trust

In a major relief for Tata Education and Development Trust, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) bench consisting of Justices PP Bhatt, President, ITAT , on 24^th July ruled in favour of the trust in their appeal against commissioner income tax (CIT) appeal order wherein a demand of more than Rs.220 crore was levied by the tax department .ITAT also stayed the matter of that demand without any minimum pay.

The case pertains to assessment years 2011-12 and 2012-13 on money spent by the Trust for creating an endowment fund at Cornell University, US, to provide scholarships to Indian students, and granting financial assistance to the Harvard Business School for constructing an executive building to be named Tata Hall. It donated ₹197.79 crore in 2011-12 and ₹25.37 crore in 2012-13.

The controversy began after the Public Account Committee (PAC) of the Lok Sabha in 2018 sought an enquiry in the matter as it believed that exemption granted by the direct tax body was in violation of the I-T Act.

Concluding the matter, the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) on Friday stated that all other grounds of appeals will be “rendered, academic and infructuous”. "We have decided this issue in favour of the assessee and thus allowed this ground of appeal. We, therefore, uphold the plea of the assessee, and delete the resultant disallowance of claim of exemption,” it said.

The Appellate Tribunal also stated in its order that, “….this wholly avoidable litigation which does not only clog the serious litigation before the judicial forums but also diverts scarce resources of the philanthropic bodies, like the assessee before us, to the areas which do no good to the society at large.”  The Tribunal hoped that the admirable work being done by the Government of India, in pursuing such forward looking policies at the macro level, is not allowed to be overshadowed by the isolated situations like this, at the field level, which must be minimized by sensitising the authorities concerned. It observed, “ An effort should be made to create a taxpayer friendly atmosphere by adopting just and fair approach at every level of the tax administration.”

 The detailed ruling of Appellate Tribunal may be accessed by clicking on link

160th Income Tax day: A journey towards Nation Building

The 160th anniversary of Income Tax Day was observed by CBDT and all its field offices across India on July 24, 2020. In her message on Income Tax Day, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman appreciated the continuous efforts of the Department towards making the tax administration taxpayer-friendly, transparent and geared towards facilitating voluntary compliance . She recognized the paradigm shift in its role in recent years, from being just a revenue collecting organization to becoming a more citizen-centric organization. She cited various reform measures undertaken, including, inter alia, the introduction of a new, simpler tax regime, reduced corporate tax rates as also payment of tax at concessional rates for domestic manufacturing  companies, which will pave the way for an ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat’, in line with the clarion call given by our Hon’ble PM. She also lauded the Department for being responsive to the needs of the taxpayers during this pandemic time by relaxing various compliance requirements and addressing the liquidity concerns of the taxpayers. She expressed confidence that not only would the Department continue to play a critical role in the growth of the nation, but will also strive to keep improving and set new standards of professionalism.

Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs Sh. Anurag Thakur in his message appreciated the Department for its efforts in providing efficient taxpayer services, observing that processes, across the spectrum of departmental functioning, have been made easier to comply with. He noted with satisfaction the efforts made by the Department towards promoting e-governance and providing dispute resolution to reduce litigation by bringing in the Vivad Se Vishwas Act. He also appreciated the speed with which the Department responded to the challenges thrown up by the Covid-19 pandemic by relaxing procedural requirements and addressing liquidity concerns and lauded the departmental officers and officials for the help, at the individual as well as team levels, extended by them to those in distress during the pandemic. He hoped that the Department would continue to make taxation simpler while making the tax administration more responsive.

Dr, Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Finance Secretary, extended his best wishes to the Department.  While recognizing that a tax department has to navigate a delicate balance between enforcement and service, he appreciated the Department for having increasingly oriented itself towards becoming taxpayer-service centric without compromising its enforcement role by deploying non-intrusive tools of data-mining and data analytics. He also recognized the measures adopted by the Department for imparting transparency to its processes and eliminating scope for unwarranted use of discretionary powers as demonstrated by new initiatives like faceless assessment, improved form 26AS, pre-filled returns etc. He also hoped that the Department would keep up the momentum and continue to improve its taxpayer services in the coming months.

 Sh. P.C. Mody, Chairman, CBDT, while extending his wishes to the members of the Aaykar Parivar and their families, complimented them for not only rising to the challenges posed by the prevailing pandemic in the discharge of their official duties but also reaching out to those in need by constituting Covid response teams for providing medical care as well as psychological support. As the head of the Aaykar Parivar, he reiterated the commitment of the Department towards further improving the compliance experience for taxpayers and also making inclusiveness, fairness and transparency its guiding principles

(Surabhi Ahluwalia)

Commissioner of Income Tax (Media & Technical Policy)

Official Spokesperson, CBDT

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Dated: 21 JUL 2020

CBIC & CBDT sign MoU to facilitate smoother bilateral exchange of data

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) today, for data exchange between the two organisations. The MoU was signed by Shri Pramod Chandra Mody, Chairman, CBDT, and Shri M. Ajit Kumar, Chairman, CBIC, in the presence of senior officers from both the organizations.

This MoU supersedes the MoU signed between CBDT and the erstwhile Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) in the year 2015. Significant developments have taken place since the signing of earlier MoU in 2015 including introduction of GST, incorporation of GSTN and change in the nomenclature of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) to Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). Changed circumstances, including advancements in technology, are duly incorporated in the MoU signed today.

This MoU will facilitate the sharing of data and information between CBDT and CBIC on an automatic and regular basis. In addition to regular exchange of data, CBDT and CBIC will also exchange with each other, on request and spontaneous basis, any information available in their respective databases which may have utility for the other organisation.

The MoU comes into force from the date it was signed and is an ongoing initiative of CBDT and CBIC, who are already collaborating through various existing mechanisms. A Data Exchange Steering Group has also been constituted for the initiative, which will meet periodically to review the data exchange status and take steps to further improve the effectiveness of the data sharing mechanism.

The MoU marks the beginning of a new era of cooperation and synergy between the CBDT and CBIC.

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RM/KMN

Ministry of Finance

CBDT to start e-campaign on Voluntary Compliance of Income Tax for FY 2018-19 from 20th July, 2020

Dated: 18 JUL 2020

The Income Tax Department is all set to start an e-campaign on voluntary compliance of Income Tax for the convenience of taxpayers from Monday, the 20th of July, 2020. The 11 days campaign ending on 31st July, 2020 focuses on the assessees/taxpayers who are either non-filers or have discrepancies/deficiency in their returns for the FY 2018-19.

The objective of the e-campaign is to facilitate taxpayers to validate online their tax/financial transaction information available with the I-T Department, especially for the assessees for FY 2018-19 and promote voluntary compliance, so that they do not get into notice and scrutiny process etc.

This e-campaign is being run for the benefit of the taxpayers. 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. The Department, has also collected information related to GST, exports, imports and transactions in securities, derivatives, commodities, mutual funds, etc., under information triangulation set up and data analytics.

It is stated that data analysis has identified certain taxpayers with high value transactions who have not filed returns for AY 2019-20 (relevant to 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.

Under the e-campaign, the taxpayers will be able to access details of their high value transaction related information 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. There would be no need to visit any Income Tax office, as the response has to be submitted online.

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. Taxpayers are requested to avail the opportunity to participate in the e-campaign for their own ease and benefit.

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RM/KMN
(Release ID: 1639664)