F. No. 225/150/2020-ITA-II

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue

Central Board of Direct Taxes

North Block, ITA-II Division

New Delhi, the 30th  September 2020

Order under Section 119(2)(a) of the Income-tax Act, 1961

1. The date for furnishing of Income-tax returns under section 139 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 ('Act') for the Assessment Year 2019-20 was 31st March, 2020. However, on consideration of difficulties being faced by the taxpayers due to COVID-19 pandemic, the said date was initially extended to 30th June, 2020 and subsequently to 31st July, 2020 and 30th September, 2020 vide the Taxation and other laws (Relaxations of certain provisions), Ordinance dated 31.03.2020, Notification No.35/2020 dated 24.06.2020 and Notification No.56/2020 dated 29.07.2020 respectively.

2. In this context, on further consideration of genuine difficulties being faced by the taxpayers due to the outbreak of COVID- 19 pandemic, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), in exercise of powers conferred under section of the Act, hereby, further extends the date for furnishing of belated and revised returns for the Assessment Year 2019-20 under sub-section (4) and (5) of section 139 of the Act respectively, from 30th September, 2020 to 30th November 2020.

(Rajarajeswari R.)
Under Secretary to the Government of India

 

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.

****

RM/KMN

(Release ID: 1659099)

 

Ministry of Finance

Income Tax Department carries out searches in Jammu & Kashmir

Dated: 17 SEP 2020

The Income Tax Department carried out a search and seizure operation on a prominent Hotelier, owning a chain of Hotels at  Srinagar, Gulmarg, Sonamarg and Pahalgam with another hotel under construction at Leh.

Various incriminating documents and materials evidencing unexplained investments in immovable properties, construction of hotels and residences aggregating to Rs. 25crore in the last six financial years have been seized during the search, though he has not paid any tax since A.Y. 2014-15. Almost all these investments are in cash and outside the known sources of income.

During the course of the search operation, receipt of unsecured loans to the tune of Rs. 25 crore in the past two years from persons of no-means has been found. All these loans are prima-facie not genuine, as the same have been advanced by persons with doubtful creditworthiness.

The search also revealed that the assessee’s children are studying in USA on whom expenditure of approximately Rs. 25 lakh/annum is being incurred. The expenditure on account of education in USA prima-facie appears to be unexplained/undisclosed. Further, the assessee is also running a B-Ed College as a Trust alongwith his mother. The Trust in not registered and no return is being filed for the Trust though it has substantial taxable income. The assessee has also admitted to having incurred expenditure of Rs. 40 lakh on renovation of his residential house.

During the investigations a bank locker has also been found, which has been put under restraint.

The Department also carried out searches in another case of a prominent jeweller in Srinagar. During the search, it was found that he had not maintained books of accounts of the jewellery business even though the turnover is of the range of Rs. 2 crore to Rs. 10 crore in the earlier years.

The search has revealed that an undeclared bank account was maintained by the assessee with deposits running into crores of rupees, which has not been offered to tax. He also sold immovable property of Rs. 1.90 crore in Srinagar in Financial Year (FY) 2015-16, capital gains tax on which has not been paid.

During the search, documents were found, revealing receipt of sum of Rs. 16 lakh in cash as ‘Pagri’ by the assessee in FY 2019-20 at the time of leasing of one of the shops. This transaction is in violation of provisions of Section 269SS of the Income-tax Act, 1961. This fact of receiving cash of Rs. 16 lakh has been admitted by the assessee as well as the lessee. The payment of Pagri of Rs. 16 lakh is also out of undisclosed income of the lessee.

The search also revealed that sale of a flat in Delhi was made by the wife of the assessee in F.Y. 2019-20 of Rs. 33 lakh. During the search, it was seen that no capital gains has been paid on the above sale. Further, out of the sale consideration of Rs.33 lakh, Rs.13 lakh has been received in cash in violation of provisions of Section 269SS of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The source of investment of buyer also seems prima-facie undisclosed, which is being investigated.

The search also revealed that the daughter of the assessee was studying abroad and the expenditure on account of the same prima-facie appears unexplained/undisclosed.

Further investigations are in progress.

****

RM/KMN

(Release ID: 1655515)