CA. Praveen Sharma GST Mitra

  Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has directed the income tax department to accept all pending tax settlement cases applications till September 30, 2021. In an order dated September 28, CBDT directed the Commissioner Income Tax to admit all such pending applications to settle the cases. Taxpayers will now be able to file their applications before the interim board till September 30. Through an amendment in the Finance Act via the Union Budget of 2021-22, the Income Tax Act 1961 was amended, which led to ceasing of operations of the Income Tax Settlement Commission (ITSC) from February 1, 2021 onwards. It was also directed that no applications for dues settlement could be filed on or after February 1, 2021. Therefore to settle all such applications which were pending as on January 31, 2021, the government had set up the Interim Board for Settlement (IBS). However after receiving numerous applications and representations from taxpayers from across the country, mainly from those ...

  If you are owning a residential house or flat or may be an office or a shop and considering to rent/lease it out, you should know about the GST obligations involved, as renting of immovable property qualifies as supply of service under GST law. 1.0 Renting of residential dwelling for use as residence is exempt Under GST law, exemption has been provided in respect of services by way of renting of residential dwelling for use as residence. Accordingly, in case you have rented out your residential house or flat to anyone for residential use, it will be an exempted supply and GST will not be applicable thereon. However, in case you have rented your residential house / flat for commercial use the exemption will not be operative and GST will be applicable on the rental amount. 1.1 Renting of residential dwelling to commercial entities exempt? Various rulings are available in regard to applicability of GST on renting of residential dwelling to commercial entities. West Bengal Authority...

  Two Bills of the Finance Department amending Gujarat Goods and Services Tax Act and Indian Partnership (Gujarat Amendment) Act were passed unanimously in the Gujarat Assembly on Tuesday. The Bills, introduced by newly appointed Finance Minister Kanubhai Desai, propose to bring certain amendments to the two Acts for increasing “ease of doing business” in the state and for the smooth implementation of the Gujarat GST Act. The Gujarat GST (Amendment) Act proposes to bring in around 15 clauses of the parent Act to amend. Desai also said that the amendments are for compliance as well as simplification of the Act and to check tax evasion. The amendment Bill proposes to remove mandatory requirement of getting annual accounts audited and the reconciliation statement submitted by specified professional as well as to amend a provision to make seizure and confiscation of goods and conveyances in transit a separate proceeding from the recovery of tax. It also proposes to provide that no appe...

  \ GST levy on annuity payments of BOT-HAM projects will have limited impact on project cash flows, domestic rating agency ICRA on Wednesday. "With NHAI reimbursing additional tax burden on account of GST levy on annuity payments for BOT (build-operate-transfer)-HAM (hybrid annuity model) projects, there would be no impact on the cashflows, project debt coverage and return metrics of the concessionaire," Vinay Kumar G, assistant vice-president and sector head (corporate ratings) of ICRA, said in a statement. For projects bid between July 1, 2017, and October 13, 2017, NHAI would not reimburse the GST on annuity under the change in law as bids were invited inclusive of GST, it said. During the period, HAM projects with an approved total project cost of Rs 4,329.9 crore were awarded. The GST Council, through its clarification dated June 17, 2021, and subsequent policy circular issued by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on September 1, 2021, has made 12 per cent ...

  New Delhi: You can now file Income Tax Returns (ITR), apply for Permanent Account Number (PAN), and book an appoint for Covid vaccination at Post Office. Apart from these, you can access to other utility services at Post Office Common Service Centres across the country. These centres at post office branches offer convenience to the general public by making third-party products and services available in their vicinity through post offices across the country, according to India Post List of Things Can Be Done at Post Office Common Service Centres Access single point for essential services through Post Office Common Service Centres (CSC). Get your appointment for Covid vaccine, you can apply for PAN, Election ID card, and passport, India Post Tweeted. You can avail benefits of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, file income tax return and top up FASTag, as per details provided by India Post. CSC Services available at selected post offices in every city or town. Range of CSC services o...

  60 साल से अधिक उम्र के लोगों यानी सीनियर सिटीजंस को न सिर्फ टैक्स छूट का लाभ मिलता है बल्कि उन्हें निवेश और रिटर्न पर भी इनकम टैक्स से खास राहत मिलती है। सीनियर सिटीजंस (वरिष्ठ नागरिकों) को 3 लाख रुपए तक की आय पर कोई टैक्स नहीं देना होता है। सीए अभय शर्मा सीनियर सिटीजंस को मिलने वाले उन टैक्स बेनिफिट्स के बारे में बता रहे हैं जो आम लोगों को नहीं मिलते हैं... टैक्स लिमिट में छूट वरिष्ठ नागरिकों के लिए एक वित्तीय वर्ष में टैक्स छूट की सीमा 3 लाख रुपए है, वहीं एक आम आदमी को केवल 2.5 लाख रुपए तक ही टैक्स छूट मिलती है। अति वरिष्ठ नागरिकों के लिए यह 5 लाख रुपए (80 साल से अधिक उम्र) है। यानी अगर किसी सीनियर सिटीजन की सालाना आय 3 लाख रुपए तक है और TDS की कटौती नहीं की गई है, तो उसे इनकम टैक्स रिटर्न फाइल करने की जरूरत नहीं है। इसी तरह अति वरिष्ठ नागरिकों को 5 लाख रुपए तक सालाना इनकम न होने पर इनकम टैक्स रिटर्न फाइल करने की जरूरत नहीं है। 75 साल से ज्यादा उम्र है तो रिटर्न की जरूरत नहीं 75 साल से ज्यादा उम्र वालों को टैक्स रिटर्न फाइल करने की जरूरत नहीं होती। 75 साल से अधिक की उम्र के ऐसे...

  Finance Ministry has set up a group of ministers to look into the rate rationalisation under the goods and services tax including the current slab structure. The goods and services tax council secretariat Monday notified the setting up of two GoM, one to look into the rate structure and another to look at systems reforms required to plug revenue leakages. The GST Council had decided to set up the two GoMs in its meeting earlier this month. The seven-member panel, which will be headed by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and includes West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal, and others would review the supply of goods and services exempt under GST with an objective to expand the tax base and eliminate breaking of ITC chain. It would also review the current tax slab rates and recommend changes in the same. The Group of Ministers (GoM) on rate rationalisation would also review items under inverted duty structure to help minimise refund p...

  A think tank has requested the GST Council to levy a higher tax of 18 per cent on tetra pack, arguing that the product is incorrectly categorised in the 12 per cent slab as a paper-based aseptic packaging. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Smriti Manch (PDUSM) pointed out that other aseptic packaging containing plastic or aluminium or multi-materials like tetra-pack attract an 18 per cent GST rate. Due to its cardboard-ish appearance, tetra-pack (HSN-4811), a multi-layer packaging (plastic+paper+aluminum) inaccurately viewed as a paper-based aseptic packaging during the GST structuring in 2017, the Delhi and Mumbai-based think tank claimed. The think tank has appealed to the GST Council, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and the Finance Ministry to amend the GST slab of tetra pack from 12 per cent to 18 per cent.A release by PDUSM claimed that tetra pack is also a key source of waste pollution in India. According to the data collected by TERI, tetra pack recycling rate i...

  The Centre has made the GST regime more complicated by bringing in numerous amendments, causing hardships to the trading community, said Sumesh Sharma, president of the HP Veopar Mandal here. He said the government had made 950 amendments to the GST structure in the past four years without taking the traders into confidence. After the amendments the traders were facing confusion. Some of them had been forced to leave their trade as they could not cope with the complex tax system. He added that the government should sensitise the traders before and after making amendments to the GST to make them aware about the new provisions. “The present structure of the GST has not only made trading a complex affair but has also stamped traders as culprits if they are not aware of the amendments made to the tax structure in the past four years,” he said. — TNS Source: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/gst-regime-complex-says-veopar-mandal-317540 Download our App to get knowledge update...

  The Income Tax Department carried out a search and seizure operation on September 23 on a group of four major steel rolling mills based in Jalna, Maharashtra. These companies are engaged in the business of manufacturing steel TMT bars and billets mostly using steel scrap as raw material. The operation was conducted in more than 32 premises spread across Jalna, Aurangabad, Pune, Mumbai and Kolkata. During the course of the search and seizure operation, many incriminating documents, loose sheets and other digital evidences were found and seized, according to a statement from I-T Department. The evidence clearly indicate the involvement of the companies in large scale unaccounted financial transactions made outside the regular books of accounts, including inflation of purchases using entry providers, unaccounted cash expenses and investments, etc. The evidences found also indicate the laundering of a substantial amount of unaccounted income earned by the companies in the guise of sh...

  The Centre will be borrowing Rs 5.03 trillion from the market in the second half, unchanged from what it had planned, but including the goods and services tax (GST) compensation paid to states.After its February Budget announcement of Rs 12.05 trillion of gross market borrowing, in May, the government had said it may have to borrow an additional Rs 1.58 trillion from the market to meet the GST compensation shortfall.However, going by the math given by the government, that extra amount will not be borrowed from the market. Instead, that could get adjusted from the government revenue without disturbing the market.But the numbers could still change in the end, say economists.“The Centre’s overall gross borrowing will be lower than what was projected after adjusting for the GST compensation for states. This is a very heroic assumption and could be done if the entire disinvestment target of Rs 1.75 trillion is on track,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist of CARE Ratings.“Besides, t...

  CGST and Central Excise officials arrested the proprietor of firm involved input tax credit fraud to the tune of 6.46 crore. The investigation is underway and the defrauded amount is likely to go up as it progresses, Finance Ministry said in a statement on Sunday. “An arrest was made by the officers of CGST and Central Excise, Mumbai Central Commissionerate in an ongoing investigation involving receipt and supply of ineligible Input Tax Credit amounting to ₹6.46 crore. The availment was made by M/s S.R. Enterprises against fake invoices issued by various non-existing/fake/fictitious firms without actual receipt of goods," the ministry said. Investigation showed that this firm availed the ineligible input tax credit (ITC) against fake invoices, where no supplies from any suppliers have been physically received, and passed on the same to other buyers. In this connection, search and inspection was conducted by the anti-evasion team of CGST and Central Excise, Mumbai Central Commiss...

  The finance ministry has set up two committees of state finance ministers which would rework rate slabs, review GST exempt items and identify potential evasion sources. Four years after the rollout of the GST, which replaced the complex indirect tax structure, the Centre and states have started work on moving towards a “simpler rate structure” by reviewing the current rate slabs, including special rates and merger of rate slabs. The Group of Ministers (GoM) on rate rationalisation would also review items under inverted duty structure to help minimise refund payout, and review the supply of goods and services exempt under GST with an objective to expand the tax base and eliminate breaking of input tax credit chain. The seven-member panel, which would submit a report in two months, would be headed by Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and include Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra, Kerala finance minister K.N. Balagopal and Bihar deputy chief minister Tarkishore Prasad. Unde...

  Owing to technical problems in the new e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued a directive on Friday to regularise Income Tax Returns (ITRs) verified using EVC instead of DSC as required under IT Rule 12 during 07/06/2021 to 30/09/2021. CBDT has said in a statement that "Due to technical issues in the e-filing portal, certain returns of income furnished electronically under Section 142(1), 148, 153A and 153C of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) during the period from 07/06/2021 to 30/09/2021, were/are being allowed to be verified through Electronic Verification Code (EVC) though these are otherwise required to be verified through Digital Signature (DSC) as per Rule 12 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962. Because the aforementioned income returns were not submitted and verified in compliance with Rule 12, the Assessing Officers may regard them as not there; absent causing inconvenience to the taxpayers. On the basis of the afor...

  The CBDT on Saturday said the Income Tax Department has detected tax evasion worth crores of rupees in raids on a leading diamond manufacturer and exporter of Gujarat. The searches were launched on September 22 at 23 premises of the group, which is also in tiles manufacturing business, at Surat, Navsari, Morbi and Wankaner (Morbi) in Gujarat and Mumbai in Maharashtra. The raids are still underway, it said. ”The primary analysis of data reveals that the assessee has made unaccounted purchase and sale of small polished diamonds of about Rs 518 crore over the period.” ”The data reveals that the assessee has sold more than Rs 95 crore of diamond scrap in cash generated from its manufacturing activities, which remains unaccounted for and represents its income,” the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) claimed in a statement. The assessee, over these years, has accounted for the sale of about Rs 2,742 crore of small diamonds in its books, against which, substantial part of purchases we...

  Infomation Technology giant Infosys issued a press release on Thursday stating that it has successfully been able to streamline most of the glitches that users encountered on the new Income-Tax portal . The portal which had gone live on June 7, 2021, received several complaints from users regarding glitches and lagging since it went live. Infosys informed is a BSE filing that so far, up to three crore taxpayers have been able to successfully complete their necessary transactions and around 1.5 crore Income-Tax Returns were filed through the new portal. The occurrence and reports of those persistent glitches had forced Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to call the Infosys executives for meetings on two separate occasions. One meeting took place in June itself, while the second one took place in August. Sitharaman gave the company till September 15 to get the portal fixed. Despite the deadline, however, Infosys was yet to resolve many of the pre-existing issues on the portal. A...

  UNION FINANCE Minister Nirmala Sitharaman , who was in Panchkula on Friday, lauded the Manohar Lal Khattar-led Haryana government for “handling its fiscal affairs very well”, adding that the state had not resorted to availing additional borrowings which were extended by the Centre for all states because of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Haryana is one state which did not utilise its additional capacity of borrowings. They thought they would be able to manage and they managed without borrowing additionally,” a PTI report quoted her as saying. Sitharaman added that she had a quick word with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on the matter and he said, “We did not require to borrow.” “So, yes Haryana is managing its fiscal matters very well,” she said. The minister also said that she made additional efforts to clear Punjab’s pending GST dues of more than Rs 1,400 crore, which should be recognised. Her remarks came against the backdrop of the Congress-led Punjab government often accusing t...

  As buoyancy in Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues poses a concern, the ministerial panels to be constituted under the GST Council is likely to also carry out a review the key tax slabs under the indirect tax regime. This will be in addition to rate rationalisation, correction of inverted duty structure, relook at exemptions, e-way bill systems, e-invoices, FASTag data and other technological measures, which would be reviewed by the ministerial panels as part of its broader revenue augmentation mandate. The lower-than-expected revenue buoyancy and the slipping of the revenue neutral rate under GST is being seen as one of the major concerns for sustenance of the revenue trend going ahead, especially after the legally mandated compensation to states for revenue shortfall from the GST implementation comes to an end in June 2022. “Revenue (under GST) is a concern. Next two-three months will be focused on steps such as rate rationalisation. The GoM will relook at tax slabs and look...