Direct Taxes: Recent News Snippets

New Draft Direct Taxes Code released

As promised by the finance minister in his Budget Day speech in July, the New Draft Direct Taxes Code was released for public discussion on August 12. The stated intent is to fulfil the long-standing and ambitious plan of simplifying the country’s complex direct tax [...]

Procedure for all remittances to non-residents w.e.f. 1-Jul-09

Section 195 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 mandates deduction of income tax from payments made or credit given to non-residents at the rates in force.
For any remittance to non-resident, except in the case of certain personal remittances which have been specifically exempted by RBI, the following revised procedure will be required before remittance:

The person making [...]

New Scheme of TDS/TCS deferred

In a Press Release dtd.30-Jun-09, CBDT has indefinitely deferred the implementation of the new Rules for TDS/TCS that were introduced vide Notification No.31/2009 dtd.25-Mar-09.
Resultantly -

Taxpayers filing their income tax returns for assessment year (AY) 2009-10, or any other earlier AY, may continue to file their returns without mentioning the Unique Transaction Number (UTN) as [...]

Pre-Budget `09 Whispers

When the FM presents his full Budget on 6th July `09, his priorities will be clear –

Bridge the fiscal deficit
Garner funding for infrastructure
Put economy back on high growth trajectory
Promote Equitable Growth
Inflation - Even as WPI falls, consumer price index is very high
Need for simplified, revised income-tax regulations

Here is a [...]

Clarity on LLP tax issue only next year

Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khursheed has said, contrary to expectation, the Budget will not address the taxation issue related to limited liability partnerships (LLPs). The issue will be clarified only next year, he added.
“It is too short a time for us to sort out the issue, but it is flagged,” Khursheed told Business Standard. The [...]

ANALYSIS OF NEW SCHEME FOR TDS / TCS

(as on 5-Jun-2009)
Background
Income Tax Department has introduced a new scheme for centralized processing of annual income-tax returns which envisages no interface with the tax payer and processing of returns to be done in an automated jurisdiction-less manner. Implementation of such scheme requires having a robust system for information relating to payment of TDS and TCS [...]

Trading in MCX-SE will now be Business Income & not Speculation

Good News for traders who are trading in MCX Stock Exchange (MCX-SE) in forward contracts of currency. As per new notification of CBDT MCX-SE is now a recognised stock exchange for the purpose of section 43(5). This means that income from trading done in MCX-SE will now be treated a business income rather than speculation [...]

Tax commissioners worldwide join hands to tackle evasion

Tax authorities from around the world have agreed on a new co-operation plan to encourage compliance and to counter evasion and abusive avoidance, with special focus on wealthy individuals and offshore activities.
The pact comes at a time when governments, facing soaring budget deficits, seek to combat the global economic slump.
The co-operation pact was [...]

Implementation of New TDS Challan No. 17 Deferred

Income Tax Department had amended the rules relating the Payment of TDS /TCS vide Notification No.31/2009 dated 25.3.2009 making it mandatory for all to deposit the such taxes through E-payment only from 01.04.2009 onwards.  Further, the challan to deposit the TDS /TCS is also changed by introducing a New Challan number 17 through online mode [...]

RECENT CHANGES IN THE PROVISIONS REGARDING TDS & TCS

This article examines the impact of the amendments made by the Income-tax (Sixth Amendment) Rules, 2009, Income-tax (Seventh Amendment) Rules, 2009 and Income-tax (Eighth Amendment) Rules, 2009 in respect of the provisions relating to tax deducted at source and tax collected at source.
INTRODUCTION
1. Various amendments have been made by Income-tax (Sixth Amendment) Rules, 2009 (hereinafter [...]