F.No. 225/126/2020/ITA-II 

Government of India 

Ministry of Finance 

Department of Revenue 

Central Board of Direct Taxes (ITA-II division) 

North Block, New Delhi, the 30th September, 2020 

To 

All Pr. Chief-Commissioners of Income-tax / Chief-Commissioner of Income-Tax 

All Pr. Director-Generals of Income tax/ Director-Generals of Income-tax. 

Madam/ Sir

Subject: Extension of time limit for compulsory selection of returns for Complete Scrutiny during the Financial Year 2020-21 - regarding

Kindly refer to Board's letter dated 17.09.2020 regarding Guidelines for compulsory selection of returns for Complete Scrutiny during the Financial Year 2020-21. 

2. Vide the said letter, the following time limits were prescribed for completion of certain actions: 

a) Selection of cases for compulsory scrutiny on the basis of the prescribed parameters shall be completed by 301h September 2020. 

b) The Survey Cases with impounded materials have to be transferred to the Central Charges under section 127 of the Income-tax Act,1961 (Act) within 15 days of issue of notice u/s 143(2) of the Act. 

c) Search cases u/s 153C of the Act, If lying outside the Central Charges, have to be transferred to the Central Charges u/s 127 of the Act within 15 days of issue of notice u/s 243(2) of the Act. 

3. Considering the difficulties faced by the field formation due to COVID-19 pandemic and PAN migration related issues, this matter has been reconsidered and It has been decided to extend the date for selection of cases for Compulsory Scrutiny on the basis of prescribed parameters, as communicated vide Board's letter dated 17.09.2020, from 30th September,2020 to 31st October,2020. 

4. It is clarified that even though the new statutory time limit as per the Taxation and other laws (Relaxations and amendment of certain provisions) Act, 2020 for selection of cases for Compulsory Scrutiny on the basis of prescribed parameters was extended to 31st March,2021, still for the purpose of timely allocation of cases to NeAC, the above time limit will have to be strictly adhered to, otherwise, the allocation of cases to NeAC will get considerably delayed. 

5. Further, for the same reasons as above In pare 4, the cases covered under the scenarios mentioned in Para 2 (b) and 2(c) of this letter shall be transferred to the Central Charges by issue of orders u/s 127 of the Act, immediately after service of notice u/s 143(2) of the Act. 

6. These instructions may be brought to the notice of all concerned for necessary compliance. 

7. This issue with the approval of Chairman (CBDT). 

(Rajarajeswari R.)
Under Secretary - ITA.II, CBDT.

 

Government of India

Department of Revenue

Ministry of Finance

Central Board of Direct Taxes

New Delhi, 26th September, 2020

PRESS RELEASE

No requirement of scrip wise reporting for day trading and short-term sale or purchase of listed shares

There was a report in certain section of media that stock traders/day traders are required to furnish scrip wise details in the return of income for AY 2020-21. The gain from share trading in case of stock traders or day traders is generally categorised as short-term capital gains or business income. This is because their holding period of shares/units in most of the cases is less than one year which is a prerequisite for the gains to be categorised as long-term capital gains. As there is no requirement in the return of income for scrip wise reporting in case of short-term/business income arising from share transactions, these reports are distorted and misleading.

       The Finance Act, 2018 allowed exemption to the gains made on the listed shares/specified units up to 31.01.2018 by introducing grandfathering mechanism for computation of long-term capital gains for these shares. The scrip wise details in the return of income for AY 2020-21 is required to be filled up only for the reporting of the long-term capital gains for these shares/units which are eligible for the benefit of grandfathering.

       As the grandfathering is to be allowed by comparing different values (such as cost, sale price and market price as on 31.01.2018) for each shares/units, there is a need to capture the scrip wise details for computing capital gains of these shares/units. The scrip wise details are not required in income tax return forms for AY 2020-21 for computation of capital gains/business income from shares/units which are not eligible for grandfathering.

      Without this reporting requirement, there may be situations where taxpayer may not claim or wrongly claim the benefit of grandfathering due to lack of understanding of the provisions. Also, if the above calculation is not made scrip wise and taxpayer is allowed to enter the total figures only, there will be no way for the income tax authorities to check the correctness of the claim and therefore many returns will require to be audited, which may lead to unnecessary grievances/rectifications at a later stage. If scrip wise long-term gain is available, it can be cross verified by the Department electronically with stock exchange, brokerage companies, etc and there will be no need to subject these income tax returns to further audits or scrutiny.

       Thus, the main intent behind requiring scrip wise detail is to facilitate the taxpayer in correctly computing the long-term capital gains on these shares/units. Requirement to provide scrip wise information in the income tax return is not unique to India. Internationally also, the taxpayer is required to provide scrip wise information for reporting capital gains. For example in USA,  a taxpayer having capital gains from transfer of shares is required to fill scrip wise details in Schedule-D of Form 1040 – income tax return form in USA.

(Surabhi Ahluwalia)

Commissioner of Income Tax

(Media & Technical Policy)

Official Spokesperson, CBDT

 

 

Government of India

Department of Revenue

Ministry of Finance

Central Board of Direct Taxes

New Delhi, 25th September, 2020

PRESS RELEASE

Faceless Appeals launched by CBDT today- Honoring The Honest

The Income Tax Department today launched Faceless Income Tax Appeals. Under Faceless Appeals, all Income Tax appeals will be finalised in a faceless manner under the faceless ecosystem with the exception of appeals relating to serious frauds, major tax evasion, sensitive & search matters, International tax and Black Money Act. Necessary Gazette notification has also been issued today.

It may be noted that Hon’ble PM on 13th August, 2020 while launching the Faceless Assessment and Taxpayers’ Charter as part of “Transparent Taxation - Honoring the Honest” platform, had announced launching of Faceless Appeals on 25th September, 2020 on the birth anniversary of Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayay. Also, in recent years the Income Tax Department has carried out several reforms in Direct Taxes for the simplification of tax processes and for ease of compliance for the taxpayers.

Under the Faceless Appeals, from now on, in income tax appeals, everything from e-allocation of appeal, e-communication of notice/ questionnaire, e-verification/e-enquiry to e-hearing and finally e-communication of the appellate order, the entire process of appeals will be online, dispensing with the need for any physical interface between the appellant and the Department. There will be no physical interface between the taxpayers or their counsel/s and the Income Tax Department. The taxpayers can make submissions from the comfort of their home and save their time and resources.

The Faceless Appeals system will include allocation of cases through Data Analytics and AI under the dynamic jurisdiction with central issuance of notices which would be having Document Identification Number (DIN). As part of dynamic jurisdiction, the draft appellate order will be prepared in one city and will be reviewed in some other city resulting in an objective, fair and just order. The Faceless Appeal will provide not only great convenience to the taxpayers but will also ensure just and fair appeal orders and minimise any further litigation. The new system will also be instrumental in imparting greater efficiency, transparency and accountability in the functioning of the Income Tax Department.

As per data with CBDT, as on date there is a pendency of almost 4.6 lakh appeals at the level of the Commissioner (Appeals) in the Department. Out of this, about 4.05 lakh appeals, i.e., about 88 % of the total appeals will be handled under the Faceless Appeal mechanism and almost 85% of the present strength of Commissioners (Appeals) shall be utilised for disposing off the cases under the Faceless Appeal mechanism.

 

(Surabhi Ahluwalia)

Commissioner of Income Tax

(Media & Technical Policy)

Official Spokesperson, CBDT

 

Ministry of Finance

Government to study the arbitration case award in Vodafone International Holding BV

Posted On: 25 SEP 2020

The Finance Ministry has said today that it has just been informed that the award in the arbitration case invoked by Vodafone International Holding BV against Government of India has been passed.  The Government will be studying the award and all its aspects carefully in consultation with its counsels. After such consultations, the Government will consider all options and take a decision on further course of action including legal remedies before appropriate fora.

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RM/KMN

(Release ID: 1659099)

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry Of Law

Dated: 17 SEP 2020

Tax tribunal makes innovative and aggressive use of IT techniques to dispense faster justice in the field of Direct Taxes despite corona.

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, a statutory quasi-judicial institution created under the Income Tax Act, 1961 and the second appellate authority dealing with disputes in the field of Direct Taxes and widely acclaimed as the ‘Mother Tribunal’, has been modelling itself on its motto of ‘Nishpaksh Sulabh Satvar Nyay’, meaning Impartial, Easy and Speedy Justice, by maintaining good disposal even during the COVID-19 Pandemic period.  The innovative and aggressive use of techniques of Information Technology to dispense justice in the field of Direct Taxes in such times when physical hearing of cases was not found feasible on concerns of safety, etc. has been seamlessly adopted by the ITAT.

            Justice P.P. Bhatt, President of ITAT directed the start of judicial proceedings immediately upon lifting of lockdown, albeit through the mode of Video Conferencing instead of physical hearings.  This has yielded good dividends inasmuch it has enabled the Benches to function, whereby cases have been heard and disposed of by hearing both parties from remote locations.  During the period starting from partial lifting of lockdown in April, 2020 and up to 31st August, 2020, as many as 5,392 cases were disposed of as against filing of 3,078 cases during such period.

            The 63 Benches of the ITAT are spread over 28 regular stations and 2 Circuit Benches at Varanasi and Dehradun.  Administratively, the Benches are divided in 10 Zones, each headed by a Vice President.  All the Zones functioned during this period strictly in compliance with the guidelines and instructions issued by the Central and/or State Governments.

            ITAT wishes to thank its stakeholders, viz., taxpayers, lawyers, Chartered Accountants and the Offices of the Income Tax Department in cooperating with the Benches and providing useful assistance in the administration of justice in the field of Direct Taxes during the current period of COVID-19 Pandemic.