PFA
DRT has no jurisdiction to issue Certificate of Recovery against the Guarantor-Part 2by CA Sandeep Kanoi |
Section 34 of the RDB Act provides that the said Act would have overriding effect. We have referred to the aforesaid provisions to singularly highlight that the sacrosanct purpose with which the tribunals have been established is to put the controversy to rest between the banks and the borrowers and any third party who has acquired any interest.
Introduction of Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015by CA Sandeep Kanoi |
The Finance Minister, in his budget speech, while acknowledging the limitations under the existing law, had conveyed the considered decision of the Government to enact a comprehensive new law on black money to specifically deal with black money stashed away abroad. He also promised to introduce the new Bill in the current Session of the Parliament.
Introduction of Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes
North Block, New Delhi
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes
North Block, New Delhi
Dated: 20th March, 2015
PRESS RELEASE
INTRODUCTION OF THE UNDISCLOSED FOREIGN INCOME AND ASSETS (IMPOSITION OF TAX) BILL, 2015
The Finance Minister, in his budget speech, while acknowledging the limitations under the existing law, had conveyed the considered decision of the Government to enact a comprehensive new law on black money to specifically deal with black money stashed away abroad. He also promised to introduce the new Bill in the current Session of the Parliament.
2. In order to fulfil the commitment made by the Government to the people of India through the Parliament, the Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015 has been introduced in the Parliament on 20.03.2015. The Bill provides for separate taxation of any undisclosed income in relation to foreign income and assets. Such income will henceforth not be taxed under the Income-tax Act but under the stringent provisions of the proposed new legislation.
3.The salient features of the Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015 are as under:-
Scope – The Act will apply to all persons resident in India. Provisions of the Act will apply to both undisclosed foreign income and assets (including financial interest in any entity).
Rate of tax – Undisclosed foreign income or assets shall be taxed at the flat rate of 30 percent. No exemption or deduction or set off of any carried forward losses which may be admissible under the existing Income-tax Act, 1961, shall be allowed.
Penalties – Violation of the provisions of the proposed new legislation will entail stringent penalties.
4. The penalty for non-disclosure of income or an asset located outside India will be equal to three times the amount of tax payable thereon, i.e., 90 percent of the undisclosed income or the value of the undisclosed asset. This is in addition to tax payable at 30%.
5. Failure to furnish return in respect of foreign income or assets shall attract a penalty of Rs. 10 lakh. The same amount of penalty is prescribed for cases where although the assessee has filed a return of income, but he has not disclosed the foreign income and asset or has furnished inaccurate particulars of the same.
Prosecutions – The Bill proposes enhanced punishment for various types of violations.
6. The punishment for willful attempt to evade tax in relation to a foreign income or an asset located outside India will be rigorous imprisonment from three years to ten years. In addition, it will also entail a fine.
7. Failure to furnish a return in respect of foreign assets and bank accounts or income will be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term of six months to seven years. The same term of punishment is prescribed for cases where although the assessee has filed a return of income, but has not disclosed the foreign asset or has furnished inaccurate particulars of the same.
The above provisions will also apply to beneficial owners or beneficiaries of such illegal foreign assets.
8. Abetment or inducement of another person to make a false return or a false account or statement or declaration under the Act will be punishable with rigorous imprisonment from six months to seven years. This provision will also apply to banks and financial institutions aiding in concealment of foreign income or assets of resident Indians or falsification of documents.
Safeguards – The principles of natural justice and due process of law have been embedded in the Act by laying down the requirement of mandatory issue of notices to the person against whom proceedings are being initiated, grant of opportunity of being heard, necessity of taking the evidence produced by him into account, recording of reasons, passing of orders in writing, limitation of time for various actions of the tax authority, etc. Further, the right of appeal has been protected by providing for appeals to the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, and to the jurisdictional High Court and the Supreme Court on substantial questions of law.
9. To protect persons holding foreign accounts with minor balances which may not have been reported out of oversight or ignorance, it has been provided that failure to report bank accounts with a maximum balance of upto Rs.5 lakh at any time during the year will not entail penalty or prosecution.
10. Other safeguards and internal control mechanisms will be prescribed in the Rules.
One time compliance opportunity – The Bill also provides a one time compliance opportunity for a limited period to persons who have any undisclosed foreign assets which have hitherto not been disclosed for the purposes of Income-tax. Such persons may file a declaration before the specified tax authority within a specified period, followed by payment of tax at the rate of 30 percent and an equal amount by way of
penalty. Such persons will not be prosecuted under the stringent provisions of the new Act. It is to be noted that this is not an amnesty scheme as no immunity from penalty is being offered. It is merely an opportunity for persons to come clean and become compliant before the stringent provisions of the new Act come into force.
Amendment of PMLA – The Bill also proposes to amend Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 to include offence of tax evasion under the proposed legislation as a scheduled offence under PMLA.
11. Thus, in keeping with the commitment of the government for focussed action on black money front, an unprecedented and multi-pronged attack has been launched to root out the menace of black money. The Government is confident that this new law will act as a strong deterrent and curb the menace of black money stashed abroad by Indians.
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(Rekha Shukla)
Commissioner of Income Tax
(Media & Technical Co-ordination)
Official Spokesperson
Central Board of Direct Taxes
(Media & Technical Co-ordination)
Official Spokesperson
Central Board of Direct Taxes
PFA
Voting though electronic means -MCA notifies revised Rulesby CA Sandeep Kanoi |
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS NOTIFICATION Date- 19th March, 2015 G.S.R. (E).- In exercise of the powers conferred by section 108 read with sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 469 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Companies (Management and […]
CBDT soft launches 'National Judicial Reference System' (NJRS)by CA Sandeep Kanoi |
In its endeavor to improve litigation management related to Direct tax cases in various courts, the Department has taken up a project titled "National Judicial Reference System" (NJRS). The NJRS project is being undertaken by the Directorate General of Income Tax (Legal & Research), Income Tax Department.
CBDT soft launches 'National Judicial Reference System' (NJRS)
F.No.DIT (L&R)-II/NJRS/XV/2014 15/439
DIRECTORATE OF IIMCOME-TAX (LEGAL AND RESEARCH)
15th FLOOR, HINDUSTAN TIMES BUILDING, KASTURBA GANDHI MARG
NEW DELHI-110002
15th FLOOR, HINDUSTAN TIMES BUILDING, KASTURBA GANDHI MARG
NEW DELHI-110002
Dated: March 19, 2015
NJRS Project: Soft launch and distribution of user ID's & Passwords
In its endeavor to improve litigation management related to Direct tax cases in various courts, the Department has taken up a project titled "National Judicial Reference System" (NJRS). The NJRS project is being undertaken by the Directorate General of Income Tax (Legal & Research), Income Tax Department.
What is NJRS?
NJRS is a computerized repository of all judgments and pending appeals related to Direct Tax cases at ITATs, High Courts and the Supreme Court. It will have intelligent search facilities and work flows for officers of the department engaged in litigation work to enable the department to closely monitor appeals as well as to carry out research and analysis on various issues. The NJRS repository currently has records for over 2.5 lakh appeals filed and 1.45 lakh orders/judgments.
How to use NJRS?
An initial version of the NJRS has been 'soft-launched' by the Chairperson, CBDT today i.e. 19th March and can be accessed by departmental users at: https://103.231.11.18 [Though the connection is secure, you may get an error message as the installation of the security certificate recognized by leading browsers is under process. Please click "Proceed" in the advanced settings (chrome) or "continue to this website" (Internet Explorer)]. In this version of the NJRS application, the users will get the facility to search exhaustively through the judgements and appeals based on key phrases, sections, citation etc. The User ID for accessing the NJRS application will be the employee ID while the password will be provided by NJRS project office.
The process of obtaining the password is as follows:
(i) ITD user will send their employee code (provided by the department) through their official email ID (ending with "@incometax.gov.in") to NJRS-user@nsdl.co.in with the subject line of the email as 'Register'.
(ii) The user will receive the first time password in the official email ID from which the request was initiated.
What does NJRS contain presently?
The details of the data available in the system at present is as follows:
Judgments- about 1,45,000 Judgments and orders of ITAT including over 50,000 cases with Summaries. The judgments are updated till January 2015
Appeals -
• Data of about 2.25 lakh appeals of ITAT. These include all appeals that were filed after 1st April 2009 as per the ITAT computer system• Data of 4,000+ appeals of Andhra Pradesh HC• Data of 10,000+ appeals of provided by the Supreme CourtThe appeal data is also updated till mid-January, 2015.
Data collection from other courts is underway. Accordingly, the database size will increase over time. Post final launch, the appeal & judgment data will be updated periodically,
What will NJRS provide finally?
In the final version of the NJRS application, the departmental users will get the following additional facilities:
• Facility to view the appeal documents being scanned at the Regional Scanning Centres (RSCs)• Dashboard for display of jurisdiction specific information about cases in various courts.• Provision for case specific communication between officers engaged in assessment work and those engaged in litigation work• Alerts for users about new messages received from other users.• Calendar for display of cases fixed in the various courts on any particular date• Facility to carry out research and prepare case notes.• Facility to enter and maintain a case diary for day to day case proceedings.• Functionality to identify related cases for bunching of appeals• Facility to mark appeals for priority attention• Facility for data analysis and generation of reports• Facility for users to upload articles on litigation issues• Facility for uploading the finalized CSRs• Facility for High Court Cells to maintain record of appeals allocated to standing counsels.• Facility to the DGIT (L & R) office for online processing of SLP proposals.
It is clarified that some of the functionalities are still under development, therefore some bugs or issues may be noticed by users in the soft launch version. Users are encouraged to report any issues noticed to the Helpdesk by email or telephone on the address/number given on the NJRS website.
(Lalit Mohan Jindal)
DDIT(NJRS)
New Delhi
DDIT(NJRS)
New Delhi
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