Small taxpayers to get priority in refunds, Rs 57,000 cr refunds so far

Last year the govt had paid refunds of about Rs 70,000 by this time as the tax dept started a drive to clear all arrears

Large taxpayers may have to wait longer to get their refunds as the government would give priority to small taxpayers in returning the excess tax paid by them while filing income tax returns.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram today denied reports that the government was going slow on refunds and said it has already refunded tax claims of Rs 57,000 crore this financial year. He said the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued directive to prioritise low value refunds.

“There is no holding up of any refund claim...The smaller assessee should be priority so that those who have due of Rs 3,000, Rs 4,000, Rs 5,000 should get refund first.  Somebody who has to get Rs 5 lakh can wait,” Chidambaram told reporters.

Last year, the government had paid refunds of about Rs 70,000 crore by this time as the tax department had started a drive to clear all arrears.

Chidambaram reiterated the government was confident of meeting its tax collections target of Rs 5.7 lakh crore for the current financial year.

“I am confident we will meet direct tax collection target… If everybody pays advance tax then actually we will collect more than the target,” he added.

Gross direct tax collections during April-November 2012-13 increased merely by 7.14% at Rs 3,25,696 crore, against Rs 3,04,002 crore in the same period last year. However, direct collections net of refunds increased by 15.04% at Rs 2,70,731 crore, compared with Rs 2,35,333 crore in the year ago period. It is just 47.5% of the Budget Estimate of about Rs 5,70,257 crore this year.

The finance ministry on Monday had asked all income tax assesses to disclose their true income if they did not want a notice from the tax department. The finance ministry warned taxpayers any concealment of income while filing tax returns would not go unnoticed as the tax department had collated information on spending as well as investment patterns of taxpayers. It warned the taxpayers to file correct returns by December 15 when the third installment of advance tax is due.

 

The finance minister said he has also paid his advance tax. "I signed my advance tax cheque yesterday. I sent it through my wife... So hopefully Advance Tax will be paid. So she got some money from me also," the Minister said pointing to CBDT Chairperson Poonam Kishore Saxena.    

Asked about GAAR, he said the ministry has submitted amendments to the Prime Minister's Office. He also said that India is working on more clarity in tax laws and a non-adversarial tax regime.  On issues related to retrospective amendment, he said decisions have been taken but drafting is going on.