Tax collected at source to be levied above Rs 2 lakh only if payment in cash: CBDT

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued a new circular clarifying that the Tax Collected at Source (TCS) levy will not be applicable, when cash part of the payment for certain goods or services is less than Rs 2 lakh, even when the total payment is more than this amount.

A fresh circular has been issued by the Board to clarify the issue with regard to applicability of the provisions to levy TCS, as announced in the Budget, where the sale consideration received is partly in cash and partly in cheque.

"TCS will not be levied if the cash receipt does not exceed Rs two lakh even if the sale consideration exceeds Rs two lakh," the CBDT said.

It illustrated this statement by an example that in a case, where a good worth Rs 5 lakh is sold for which the consideration amounting to Rs 4 lakh has been received in cheque and Rs 1 lakh has been received in cash.

"As the cash receipt does not exceed Rs 2 lakh, no tax is required to be collected at source as per Section 206C (1D)," it said.

The circular added that TCS is "required to be collected at source on cash component of the sales consideration and not on the whole of sales consideration".

The Income Tax (IT) Department has been levying 1% TCS on cash purchase of bullion in excess of Rs 2 lakh and jewellery in excess of Rs 5 lakh since July 1, 2012 and there has been no change in that position.

However, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget 2016-17, had imposed TCS of 1% on goods and services purchased in cash in excess of Rs 2 lakh.