Page 11 - Income Tax

Budget 2025: Decoding tax and non-tax revenue and why they matter

As the Union Budget 2025 approaches, it is crucial to understand how the government earns its revenue from taxes and non-tax sources. Here's a breakdown

90k salaried individuals withdraw wrongful tax claims worth Rs 1,070 crore

As many as 90,000 salaried individuals, both from PSUs and the private sector, have withdrawn wrongful tax deductions claims totalling Rs 1,070 crore as of December 31, 2024, government sources said on Thursday. During various search & seizure and survey operations conducted by Income Tax Department, it has come to notice that various individuals are claiming incorrect deductions, under sections 80C, 80D, 80E, 80G, 80GGB, 80GGC, in their ITRs, leading to reduction of tax payable to the government. During investigation, it was revealed that such individuals are employees of organisations operating in diverse fields including PSUs, big corporations, MNCs, LLPs, Private Ltd Companies, etc, sources said. Also, most of them who claimed wrongful deductions were working in the same company. Analysis of the information with the department showed that there is a vast mismatch between total deductions under section 80GGB/80GGC claimed by taxpayers in their ITRs as against the total receipts

Centre to simplify decades-old income tax filing rules in upcoming Budget

The changes involve simplifying the language and rationalizing information by using formulas and tables, and won't include any adjustments to tax rates and policy, the people said

I-T dept can attach assets under benami law even if actual owner not traced

The Adjudicating Authority for the anti-benami law has upheld a 2023 land assets attachment order issued by the Income Tax department despite the taxman not being able to identify the "beneficial owner", stating that the said law has specific provisions to deal with such instances. The Authority, a quasi-judicial body, issued the order on November 26 last year in a benami assets case that came to the fore after the department raided three Lucknow-based realty groups that had "purchased big land parcels in the Kakori (Lucknow district) area by paying huge amount of unaccounted cash". The Lucknow-based Benami Prohibition Unit (BPU) of the department issued a provisional order in October 2023 attaching five land parcels in Kakori valued at over Rs 3.47 crore and categorising them as "benami assets". The order was sent to the Authority for confirmation with the name of a 'benamidar' (in whose name a benami property is standing) apart from two companies and two individuals who were named

Only 1% of tax returns are selected for scrutiny, 99% accepted on trust

India's tax administration adopts a trust-based model, accepting over 99% of returns without scrutiny, while flagged cases undergo transparent, objective assessments

Govt may introduce one-time amnesty scheme to resolve Customs disputes

The official said around 35,000 customs cases, involving over around Rs 50,000 crore are currently pending across various courts

High penalties for cash transactions: Know I-T dept's key restrictions

The brochure advises taxpayers to refrain from using cash for daily transactions, particularly those involving significant amounts

Hero MotoCorp gets additional tax demand of Rs 26.4 cr from I-T dept

Two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp Ltd on Wednesday said it has received an additional tax demand of Rs 26.40 crore from the Income Tax Department for the assessment year 2020-21. The company received an order dated December 31, 2024, from the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Central Circle 27, New Delhi for the assessment year 2020-21, Hero MotoCorp Ltd said in a regulatory filing. Stating that it had filed its income tax return for the assessment year 2020-21 on December 31, 2020, the company said the same was examined by the tax officer in detail as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961. "The tax officer has made the additions to the reported income to the tune of around Rs 96.5 crore resulting in an additional tax demand of Rs 26.4 crore (approximately)," it added. Hero MotoCorp said it is examining the order and would take appropriate steps, including filing of appeal and rectification application. "In the opinion of the management, the demand raised is unsustainable

I-T dept set to enhance operations in 2025 by adopting PRUDENT approach

The chairman noted that the past year saw significant progress, with over 2.4 lakh grievances resolved, including 1.75 lakh through the E-nirvan platform

Simplification of policies to be govt's focus for taxation in 2025

Simplification of direct and indirect tax policies will be the main focus area for the government in the New Year after beginning the review of the six-decade-old income tax law and rationalisation of the GST rate in 2024. With monthly gross GST collections stabilising at around Rs 1.8 lakh crore and gross direct tax collections steadily rising at 20 per cent rate, the effort to ease compliance burden for individuals as well as corporates will gain traction. On the GST front, individuals are awaiting a tax cut in life and health insurance premiums, which will bring down the cost of insurance, while businesses are awaiting the operationalisation of the GST Tribunal for faster dispute resolution. Also, the work on rationalising GST rates and slabs has been put in motion with a group of ministers (GoM) deliberating on the changes, but a final decision is expected only by the GST Council, comprising the Centre and state finance ministers. Currently, GST is a four-tier tax structure wit

These rule changes will impact how you file Income Tax returns in 2025

July 2024 steps will shape tax deductions and exemptions that can be claimed when filing an Income Tax Return (ITR) in July 2025

Budget 2025: Govt may cut income tax rates to lift consumption, says report

The move could benefit tens of millions of taxpayers, especially city dwellers burdened by high living costs, if they opt for a 2020 tax system that strips exemptions like housing rentals

52 kg gold, Rs 9.86 crore cash found in abandoned SUV near Bhopal forest

52 kg of gold and Rs 9.86 crore in cash were found in an abandoned SUV near a Bhopal forest, raising suspicions of links to ongoing raids on real estate businesses

Telangana urges Centre to simplify IT slabs, reduce corp tax for biz ease

Telangana on Friday urged the Centre to simplify the Income Tax slabs and reduce corporate tax rates to enhance ease of doing business. In his speech at the pre-Budget meeting of the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said streamlining IT and GST filing processes is vital as these processes currently consume weeks for mid-sized and large businesses. Expanding the tax base through digital tracking of financial transactions and encouraging voluntary compliance are also key measures, he opined. "Reforms to the Income Tax Act are a welcome step. India's current tax system is complex, leading to compliance burdens for individuals and businesses alike. Telangana urges simplification of tax slabs and reduction of corporate tax rates to enhance ease of doing business," Bhatti said. Telangana supports a realistic fiscal deficit target of 4.5 per cent of GDP to sustain momentum in infrastructure and ...

Only 6.68% of population filed income tax return in FY24: Govt tells House

Only 6.68 per cent of India's population filed income tax returns in 2023-24 fiscal, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said there is an increase in filing ITR with over 8.09 crore income tax returns were filed in fiscal 2023-24, up from over 7.40 crore in 2022-23. In FY22, the number of ITRs filed was over 6.96 crore, up from over 6.72 crore in FY21 and over 6.48 crore in FY20. "In FY 2023-24, the percentage of population that files Income Tax Return is 6.68 per cent. (In FY 2023-24, the total number of persons filling income tax return is 8,09,03,315)," Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. He further said total number of individuals reporting zero taxable income in their ITRs is 4.90 crore in Assessment Year 2023-24, up from 4.64 lakh in 2022-23.

FinMin unlikely to introduce new Income-Tax Bill in Budget session

Review panel may submit report before FY26 Budget

CBI arrests 2 income tax department employees in bribery case from Assam

As per the CBI release, the accused were arrested for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 4,000 from the complainant which is allegedly part of demanded bribe amount of Rs 10,000

No need to apply for new PAN cards: 11 FAQs on PAN 2.0 system explained

Still unsure about how PAN 2.0 system will work? These FAQs from the CBDT might clear things up

Are non-financial firms' financial investments here to stay, or at risk?

There are two ways of looking at this problem - first, has the composition of reported income changed? And second, has the composition of assets changed?

74% top corporate taxpayers favour real-time compliance monitoring: Report

Deloitte's Income Tax Digitalisation in India survey found a strong push for the use of real-time data, e-wallets, APIs, and emerging technologies like AI and blockchain in the I-T department