Heena Sharma Blog

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Income Tax department to refund within four weeks Rs 733 crore to Vodafone Idea Ltd for assessment year (AY) 2014-15. Vodafone Idea, formerly known as Vodafone Mobile Services Ltd, had sought Rs 4,759.07 crore in tax refund from for AYs 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18, but the court refused for other years. "Insofar as AY 2014-15 is concerned, final assessment order passed under Section 143(3) of the (Income Tax) Act indicates that the appellant (telecom firm) is entitled to refund of Rs 733 Crores; while for AY 2015-16 there is a demand of Rs.582 Crores," a bench comprising Justices U U Lalit and Vineet Saran said in the judgement. Read More

In a unprecedented move, the central government is likely to extend the March 31 deadline of paying income taxes by a month, in view of Covid-19 pandemic , said two officials privy to the development. If situation worsens, it may be pushed till June end, officials added. The move follows the difficulties being faced by the taxpayers in meeting the compliance requirement under the Income-tax laws. The ordinance with this regard would come soon, said one of the two officials. The Budget session of Parliament was cut short on Monday and both the houses were adjourned sine die. Sources say that if implemented, this will be the first time in the history of tax filing, that the Centre would postpone the date of income tax filing which would lead to change in the structure of financial year. Read More

Filing Income Tax Returns (ITR) can be a tedious task. Before filing ITR, you will need to create an e-filing account on the Income Tax website, incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in and register yourself. Registration will be completed after you click the activation link sent via e-mail and enter the provided one-time password (OTP) received on your mobile. Click on 'Registered User' if you have already registered yourself on the website. Important note: The income-tax department has extended last date of filing ITR, which is now August 31. Here's a step-by-step guide to filing Income Tax Returns (ITR): A. Keep essential documents with you Collect documents such as Form 16, salary slips, and interest certificates and Form 26AS. Keeping them handy will help you compute your gross taxable income and will provide you with the details of tax deducted at source (TDS) from your income in 2018-19. B. Get Form 26AS: You can download Form 26AS from the TRACES website. To dow...

The Centre is considering increasing the personal income tax threshold in next month’s budget, according to people familiar with the matter, as authorities seek to kickstart consumption in the economy. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman may raise the tax exemption limit for working-age individuals to Rs 300,000 ($4,316) of their annual income, up from the current Rs 250,000, the people said, asking not to be identified as they aren’t authorised to speak publicly about the proposals. The tax measures haven’t been finalised yet. Any tax exemptions will add stimulus to an economy that’s slowed sharply this year, with growth reaching a five-year low of 5.8 per cent in the first three months of the year. The proposed tax move would put at least Rs 2,500 more in the hands of each of India’s 50 million taxpayers. It could also add to pressure on the budget deficit, which is pegged at 3.4 per cent of gross domestic product for the current fiscal year that began on April 1. The f...

If you have received a notice for not filing income tax returns within due date, you might want to pay heed to it. In what could probably be the first such instance, a director of Mumbai-based firm Ms Shah Time and Jewels was sentenced to jail for three months on Wednesday for not filing income tax returns within the due date for the assessment year 2014-15, according to The Times of India. When repeated notices sent to the firm and its director Paresh C Shah did not elicit any response, the deputy commissioner of Income Tax on November 22, 2017, filed a show cause notice seeking an explanation as to why sanction for their provision should not be given under the Income Tax Act. After that also went unanswered, a complaint was filed against Shah and the firm. The Ballard Pier magistrate court rejected Shah's defence of 'lack of knowledge' and held him and the firm guilty of deliberate non-compliance. The court observed that imprisonment under the Income Tax Act wa...

The Income Tax Department will "only" issue refunds via the e-mode into bank accounts of taxpayers beginning next month and they should link PAN with their accounts, the taxman said in its latest public communication. The department said refunds will be sent to bank accounts as it will issue "only e-refunds from March 1, 2019." Link your PAN (permanent account number) with your bank account toget your refund directly, swiftly and securely, the department said in a public advisory issued Wednesday. It added the bank account could be either savings, current, cash or overdraft. Till now, the department used to issue refunds to taxpayers either in their bank accounts or through account payee cheques, in a case-to-case basis depending on the category of taxpayers. The communication added taxpayers can check if their bank account is linked with their PAN by logging onto the e-filing website of the department-- https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in It...

Stressing that tax concessions have been provided with a view to help poor and middle-class people living on a tight budget, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said that now individuals earning up to Rs 9.5 lakh can escape liability by taking advantage of saving schemes. Replying to the debate on the Finance Bill in Lok Sabha, the Minister said he did not propose any change in the tax rate but only provided few rebates which will boost spending and help the economy. The Finance Bill, which contains tax proposals, was passed by the Lok Sabha with a voice vote, completing the budgetary process in the lower house. In a swipe at the Congress, the Minister said that unlike the previous UPA dispensation, the present Modi government in the interim budget did not reduce levies of SUVs which are used by rich persons. In the Finance Bill 2019, the Minister proposed to raise tax rebate for people having annual income up to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 2,500 to Rs 12,500, which will e...

Nowadays, many of us prefer to work independently as a consultant or freelance than being associated with full time with an organization, being on their payroll . This is because of the enormous flexibility one gets to have by being self-employed. However, it is equally important to understand that flexibility cannot be the sole determining factor to choose self-employment over being salaried. Financial and tax compliance plays a significant role in deciding which option is more suitable for you. These have been discussed in this article. Taxability First and foremost, it is important that one understands that a salaried individual gets taxed differently from a professional consultant. If you are salaried, you can offer income from salary after claiming various exemptions like House Rent Allowance, Leave Travel Allowance, Children’s Education Allowance, Standard Deduction etc. The net salary income will be taxable under the head “ Income from salary ”. An independent pro...

It is quite common for people from India to go and settle abroad. Indian citizens who do so for employment or carrying out a business or vacation there or for any other purpose due to which their period of stay outside India is uncertain, would be considered Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). Nonetheless, many such NRIs prefer to retain the bank accounts they had held in India. This could be for easy repatriation of income made abroad to the home country. Or they might want to keep income earned in India in India itself. In such cases, one can either open a Non-Resident account or a Non Resident Ordinary rupee (NRO) account. Let's understand these two accounts and their characteristics a little more in detail. The need for an NRE and NRO account First and foremost, one needs to understand that once an individual moves out of India, he is not allowed to hold a resident savings account. It would be considered as a violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act or FEMA reg...