Income Tax Department to Issue Pre-Filled Return Forms

New Delhi: As part of efforts to popularise the electronic mode of filing income tax returns, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is planning to provide "pre-filled" return forms to filers which will automatically have details of a taxpayer.

The policy-making body of the tax department is working to ensure that this customer-friendly measure can be launched for taxpayers from the next financial year.

CBDT Chairperson Anita Kapur said that these technology upgrades are proposed to be initially started for small taxpayers who file the one-page ITR (ITR 1). Under the new system, the details of taxpayers as per previous records are automatically uploaded when they file returns. This will help taxpayers file returns quickly. Wherever there are any amendments or changes, those can be corrected by the taxpayers, she added.

"We want to give the taxpayers the right to change or correct their figures (in the new system) and help them file their ITR as quickly and easily as possible," she said.

The latest figures show that the tax department received 2.06 crore returns on its electronic filing portal as on September 7 (last date for filing), which is an increase of 26 per cent over the last year.

We Don't Withhold Refunds or Scrutinize Small Taxpayers: Taxman

 
New Delhi: The Income Tax Department does not withhold refunds of small taxpayers nor does it generally select their tax returns for scrutiny and detailed analysis, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has said in an attempt to dispel two of the biggest concerns of this category of assessees.

CBDT Chairperson Anita Kapur said she would like to bust the myth and "fear psychosis" that once people file their tax returns, they automatically come on the radar of the taxman and then they are tracked.

Ms Kapur, in an interview to PTI, said in cases of neatly filed electronic income tax returns (ITRs), the department has set a deadline of six months for refunds to be generated and sent to the taxpayer.

"We tell the taxpayers that in e-file returns we take a maximum of six months to process it if you have a clean return and no TDS mis-match. But then there is a misinformation campaign that we hold refunds. I will say we don't hold refunds for small taxpayers," said the chief of CBDT, the apex policymaking body of the I-T department.

"For large taxpayers, if it is a scrutiny case, then we have to hold it as per law till the scrutiny assessment is over but not for small taxpayers if their ITRs are all correct," she said.

"We are not interested in holding up small returns."

Ms Kapur said her second area of concern over which she would like to put the record straight is the version that taxman puts the cases of small and middle-category taxpayers on the scrutiny list which entails submission of additional documents and visits to the assessing I-T officer.

Citing an example, she said no tax inspector can just go to a person, like a fruit-seller, and say he/she has to file his I-T return or that his/her return is going to be scrutinized.

"We are told that people are scared that once tax department knows about them after they have done filing (of ITR) then they are tracked and followed and they stay on the radar of the I-T department. We want to tell the taxpayers that only in less than one per cent cases you will be asked to come to the tax department for scrutiny of your case."

"And even this less than one per cent category is not discretionary selection by the assessing officer. It is a computer-based programme where risk parameters are fed in, algorithm is developed, and based on that cases get selected," she said.

The CBDT chief said that when these parameters are built in, they are done in a manner that "in fact, small taxpayers don't get selected and these parameters are to detect big tax evasion".

"So, small taxpayers should not be scared of entering the department, doing e-filing and even manual filing," she said.

This kind of a fear psychosis, Ms Kapur said, is totally "unwarranted".

"Now, when we are holding out this assurance to you that only less than one per cent cases I am going to scrutinize then I am not looking at small taxpayer. The tax evasion probability of a small taxpayer is less and hence he is not selected for scrutiny."

"So, if a small taxpayer is willingly paying his taxes, we assume that why would he want to evade taxes? For us, it's a good situation. This is one way of doing things for the small taxpayer," she added.

Travel in Railways Upper Class Becomes More Expensive

 New Delhi: Travel in railways' upper class categories has become costlier as a service tax levy of 14 per cent and a 'Swachh Bharat' cess of 0.5 per cent became effective from Sunday.

According to a Rail Ministry circular, the levies make for a 4.35 per cent hike for travel in first class and all AC classes from November 15.

The decision to increase passenger fares is in line with a government notification on November 6 for imposing a Swachh Bharat cess on all taxable services.

"Service tax of 14 per cent and Swachh Bharat cess of 0.5 per cent are chargeable on 30 per cent of total passenger fare equivalent to 4.35 per cent of the total fare on first class and all AC fares," the circular said.

However, the service tax will not be applicable for tickets issued before November 15. Neither would the levy be applicable for general and sleeper-class travel.

With the hike, 'AC-I' fares on mail and express trains from New Delhi to Mumbai are up Rs. 206 while a rise of Rs. 102 is applicable on 'AC-III' fares from New Delhi to Howrah.

On the Delhi-Chennai route, the increased fare works out to about Rs. 140 for the 'AC-II' segment.

According to an estimate, the service tax levy and the Swachh Bharat cess are expected to fetch about Rs. 1,000 crore in a year.

Annual earnings for Railways from the passenger segment are estimated to be at about Rs. 35,000 crore.

LATEST NEWS ABOUT SERVICE TAX IN INDIA

Government of India increases Service Tax

Starting November 15, 2015, eating out, travelling and telephone charges have become expensive as the Government of India has imposed a 0.5 per cent Swachh Bharat cess of taxable services. The service tax has now been changed from 5.6 per cent to 5.8 per cent. It is expected that the increase in taxes would capitulate a total of about Rs 3,800 crores.
Cess is a tax which is majorly used in United Kingdom in countries like Ireland and Scotland and was applied in colonial India during the British rule.

Here is a list of taxes that you should know about:

Service Tax: It is the tax which is levied by the government on service providers and is paid by customers. The service tax has been changed from 5.6 to 5.8 per cent and is consistent in all states.

Income Tax: The tax that has been imposed by the government on the income of a person. Income tax is charged on the annual salary of an individual through the business pursuits.

Sales Tax: It is the tax which is paid to the government for the sales of products and services. Sales tax is of different types depending upon the sale of product from manufacturer to wholesaler or retailer to the customer.

Entertainment Tax: In India, tax is imposed on things related to entertainment such as for movie tickets, festivals, commercial shows, amusement parks etc. and the revenue goes to the state government.

Toll Road Tax: Also called as turnpike or tollway, toll tax is a fee paid by the passer by. The toll is collected to recover the cost of the road construction, maintenance etc.