There is inconsistency in filing income tax, says CBDT Chairman

Out of a total of 15 lakh companies in India, over 50 percent of them are not filing income tax returns, said Sushil Chandra, Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxation (CBDT).

Speaking at a post-Budget event held by CII on Monday, Chandra revealed that only around 50 percent of the companies are regular with filing income tax returns.

"As per statistical information available, only around 36,500 companies are filing return above Rs. 1 crore. We are very certain that more persons should come under the tax net. This is a very serious problem and needs immediate attention," Chandra said.

Furthermore, Chandra said that refund on taxes will not be withheld if the matter is being scrutinised by the income tax department. "If a person is filing for return of Rs. 2, 50, 000 and depositing more than Rs. 10, 00,000 in a different account, he/she will be answerable to the Income Tax department."

"If a person is not regular with paying taxes, an E-mail and SMS alert will be sent regarding the same, to which a response is expected by logging on to the e-portal. Upon receiving a satisfactory response, the case will be closed. If no response is recorded from the person, stringent action will be taken on the defaulter," added Chandra.

"If an individual makes cash transaction of above Rs. 3, 00, 000, a 100 percent penalty will be charged on the same," added Chandra, on the new provision announced in the Union Budget 2017-18, banning all cash transactions above Rs. 3, 00, 000.

Speaking on the implementation of the General Anti Avoidance Rule (GAAR), contained in Chapter X-A of the Income Tax Act, 196, Chandra said that CBDT will issue additional examples for companies to understand the necessary procedures of applying for GAAR and conditions under which it will not be applicable.

"The stakeholders and industry associations had requested for clarifications on implementation of GAAR provisions and a Working Group was constituted by CBDT to examine the issues raised. Accordingly, the CBDT had issued the clarifications on implementation of GAAR provisions on January 27, 2017. We will now come out with some more examples that will make things easy for companies," added Chandra.