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Income Tax Department
The income tax department has launched a drive to verify "suspicious" foreign remittances by entities with little or no reported business activity, the persons behind them, and the chartered accountants who issued tax determination certificates. Entities located in districts along India's land borders and remitting significant amounts of money abroad have also been covered in the exercise. The exercise has covered approximately 394 entities (including 117 entities located in land-border states), and 36 professionals, the department said in a post on X. "On August 18, the Department launched a nationwide detailed verification exercise to verify these (suspicious) foreign remittances, focusing on shell entities, the persons behind them, and the professionals who have issued Form 15CB certificates," the tax department said. The verification of suspicious foreign remittances follows data analysis and ground intelligence indicating significant overseas remittances by entities with littl
The Income Tax department is currently in the process of framing rules to implement the 2026-27 Budget provision that allows taxpayers to electronically apply for lower or nil TDS certificates electronically, Parliament was informed on Monday. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said Section 395(1) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 provides for the issuance of certificates for deduction of tax at source at Nil or lower rates. Vide Finance Act, 2026, to ease the compliance burden of small taxpayers, an option has been enabled for the payee, to file the application for issuance of certificates for lower or nil deduction of income-tax electronically and the certificate may be issued or rejected subject to fulfilment of conditions as may be prescribed. "... the enabling rule is currently under preparation and shall be notified in due course," Chaudhary said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. A taxpayer typically applies for a lower or nil TDS certificate when their actual tax ...
The income tax department's NUDGE campaign has resulted in 1.25 crore taxpayers filing updated or revised ITRs with payment of Rs 9,494 crore in additional taxes over the past 2 years, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said on Monday. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has undertaken the NUDGE (Non-intrusive Usage of Data to Guide and Enable) campaign by leveraging data analytics, behavioural insights and digital communication platforms for improved tax collection efficiency in a non-intrusive manner. Under these campaigns, communications are sent to select taxpayers after due risk analysis to review and revise/update their Income Tax Returns (ITRs) already filed. The taxpayers are selected on the basis of advanced risk analysis identifying incorrect or non-reporting of assets or income, or excess claims of deductions or exemptions in their ITRs. During 2024-25 and 2025-26, the NUDGE campaign has resulted in 1.25 crore updated or revised ITR filings, and payment o
The increase in monetary thresholds for filing tax dispute appeals at ITAT, high courts, and the Supreme Court has led to about Rs 16,690 crore reduction in disputed tax demand, Parliament was informed on Monday. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave details of the total number of cases withdrawn/not filed, and the estimated reduction in disputed tax demand due to enhanced monetary limits for filing departmental appeals, from September 17, 2024. About 443 cases have been withdrawn and while 11,390 appeals were not filed before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) after the increase in monetary threshold. The total estimated reduction in disputed tax demand at ITAT was Rs 3,662.82 crore. Similarly, 4,791 cases were withdrawn and 5,565 appeals were not filed before the high courts. The reduction in disputed demand was an estimated Rs 9,218.71 crore. At the Supreme Court, 744 cases were withdrawn and appeals not filed in 534 cases. This ...
Over 5.9 crore ITRs have been filed for AY 2026-27 by July 31, the income tax department said on Saturday. The last date for filing income tax returns (ITRs) 1 and 2 -- for assessees who do not have to get their accounts audited -- for Assessment Year 2026-27 without penalty and interest -- was July 31. Last year, over 7.3 crore ITRs were filed by September 16, 2025, which was the extended date for filing tax returns for AY 2025-26. "Over 5.9 crore ITRs filed for AY 2026-27 by July 31st!," the I-T department said in a post on X on Saturday. ITR Form 1 (Sahaj) is a simpler form that caters to a large number of small and medium taxpayers. Sahaj can be filed by a resident individual having annual income up to Rs 50 lakh and who has salary income, one house property, and agricultural income up to Rs 5,000 a year. ITR-2 is filed by individuals and HUFs not having income from profits and gains in business or profession, but having income from capital gains.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued a guidance note specifying that crypto exchanges and other intermediaries will have to report all transactions on their platforms to the Income Tax department. The objective of the guidance note on crypto asset reporting obligations is to bridge the information gap that existed because such assets could be transferred or held outside the traditional financial system. It is more procedural in nature while ensuring that crypto transactions become part of a transparent global tax reporting ecosystem. The note intends to explain the reporting obligations of Reporting Crypto-Asset Service Providers (RCASP) in line with the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) developed jointly by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and participating countries, including India. The CARF is a global tax transparency framework which provides for the automatic exchange of tax-relevant information on transactions in crypto ..
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday urged the Income Tax department to work for the benefit of common people without making them run from pillar to post. She also went public with her disappointment at the "laidback" nature of government departments, which leads to illegal occupation or encroachments on government lands and underlined the need for integrity in conduct from all officials. Citing the challenges faced by the department in getting permissions to construct a building in the Nariman Point business district, which she inaugurated on Sunday, Sitharaman said these experiences, despite serving in the Indian Revenue Service (IRS), would have given them an idea of what the common man goes through. An IRS officer has the name of the Income Tax department behind him, a "powerful force to frighten people", Sitharaman reminded, adding that despite this, the officials had to run from pillar to post to get clearances from authorities to proceed with work on the 13-flo
The Income Tax Department is running short of 26,997 officers and support staff as of January 1, 2026, Parliament was informed on Monday. "The vacancies in Group A, B & C in the Income Tax Department as on January 1, 2026, are 26,997. Occurrence and filling up of vacancies is a continuous process," Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written response to the Lok Sabha. As and when vacancies arise, such vacancies are filled regularly in accordance with the terms of the mode of recruitment prescribed in the relevant recruitment rules, namely direct recruitment through UPSC/SSC or through promotion as applicable, it added. Further, the introduction of the New Income Tax Act, 2025, has resulted in a landmark development to simplify language, remove obsolete provisions and consolidate & restructure provisions, it said. Measures have been taken to strengthen and modernise the tax administration by leveraging information and digital technology for ease of filing, .
The income tax department has increased the Cost Inflation Index for the current fiscal for calculating long-term capital gains arising from the sale of immovable property, securities and jewellery. The Cost Inflation Index (CII) is used by taxpayers to calculate gains from the sale of capital assets after adjusting inflation. The Cost Inflation Index for FY 2026-27 is 384, as per a notification of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). The CII for fiscal 2025-26 was 376. AMRG Global Managing Partner Rajat Mohan said the annual notification of the Cost Inflation Index reflects the government's commitment to maintaining an objective inflation-adjustment mechanism wherever indexation benefits continue under the new tax framework. It provides taxpayers, valuers and tax professionals with clarity for computing the indexed cost and reduces interpretational disputes, Mohan added. CII or Cost Inflation Index is notified under the Income-tax Act, 1961 every year. It is popularly used