A large number of incriminating evidences in the form of documents, diary notings and digital data showing earning of huge unaccounted income by the group and its investment in assets have been found and seized. The evidences clearly indicate evasion of taxable income by adopting various modus-operandi such as suppression of production, use of bogus purchase invoices without actual delivery of the goods to inflate purchases, availing of bogus GST credit, claim of bogus commission expenses, etc.  The assessee group has also received on-money in immovable property transactions. All these have resulted into generation of unaccounted cash. During the search proceedings, several incriminating evidences about cash transactions in investment in immovable properties and cash loans have also been seized.

The search operation has resulted in seizure of unaccounted cash of about Rs. 2.5 crore and jewellery of Rs. 1 crore. 16 bank lockers have been placed under restraint.

A preliminary analysis of the documents/evidence unearthed during the search has indicated that estimation of unaccounted income is likely to be more than Rs.100 crore.

Further investigations are in progress.

The post Income Tax Department conducts searches in Gujarat appeared first on newsmantra.in l Latest news on Politics, World, Bollywood, Sports, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Trending news | News Mantra.

The main allegations against the groups were that they had grossly understated their medical receipts both in their individual capacities and the turnovers in their hospitals/nursing homes, diagnostic centres and pharmaceutical business.

During the course of the search & seizure operation, it has been established that the groups engage in out-of-books transactions. Many documents and cash receipt slips were found which highlight the hugely suppressed turnover in the case of medical professionals and their hospitals/clinics. The quantum of suppressed turnover detected in few cases alone appears to be upward of Rs. 50-60 crore. Further, the net profit shown in the medical/pharma business is also extremely low.

Total cash of approximately Rs. 7.54 crore was seized by the Department from various residential and business premises of the medical professionals and their allied business, with an amount of Rs. 1.76 crore cash seizure from a distant town of Nalbari in Assam. The cash seized was found to be unexplained in the hands of various hospitals and medical professionals. Papers of huge parcels of land/immovable assets purchased in cash were also seized. Hand written notes/diaries of investments made in immovable assets in cash of around Rs. 20 crore were also seized. The cash generated was found to be diverted in building of new hospitals, reconstruction of nursing homes and acquisition of undisclosed assets.

During the course of the search action, it was found that huge amount of Kachha Cash receipts and transaction were made outside the regular books of accounts, In one such case, it was  found  that  an amount  close to Rs. 20 crore was undisclosed.

Further, daily receipts were found to be digitally maintained in Excel/hard disk at Medical clinics that had not been recorded in the books of accounts. In the case of another assessee, the annual receipts were approximately Rs. 15-20 crore, while in the audited books, he had shown the gross receipt of around Rs.5 crore only. Hence, it is apparent that in the case of this particular assessee, suppression for each year should be around Rs.10-15 crore.

In all, unexplained investment/receipts/expenses exceeding Rs. 100 crore has been unearthed due to the search & seizure action.

Further investigations are in progress

The Income Tax Department carried out a search and seizure action in Hydarabad based on investigation in income tax evasion using bogus sub-contractors/shell entities along with enquiries made relating to entities flagged for providing fake Input Tax credit.

The search was carried out on a prominent civil contractor working in Telangana, generating cash through the use of bogus sub-contracts and bogus billers. The search has been conducted on 19 premises across Hyderabad. The search has also covered a network of individuals running the racket of entry operation and generation of huge cash through fake billing.

Several shell entities/firms were used by the searched entry operators for layering of unaccounted money and cash withdrawals against fake bills issued wherein bogus Input Tax Credit(ITC) was passed on. Statements of such entry operators, their dummy partners/employees, the cash handlers of the beneficiaries have also been recorded, clearly validating the entire money trail.

The post Income Tax Department conducts searches appeared first on newsmantra.in l Latest news on Politics, World, Bollywood, Sports, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Trending news | News Mantra.

With a view to compensate  Central Government employees and incentivise consumption, thereby giving a boost to consumption expenditure, the Government of India allowed payment of cash allowance equivalent  to  LTC fare to Central Government employees subject to fulfilment of certain conditions vide OM No F. No 12(2)/2020-EII (A) dated 12th October 2020. It has also been provided that since the cash allowance of LTC fare is in lieu of deemed actual travel, the same shall be eligible for income-tax exemption on the lines of existing income-tax exemption available for LTC fare.

In order to provide the benefits to other employees (i.e. non-Central Government employees) who are not covered by the above mentioned OM, it has been decided to provide similar income-tax exemption for the payment of cash equivalent of LTC fare to the non-Central Government employees also. Accordingly, the payment of cash allowance,  subject to maximum of Rs 36,000 per person as Deemed LTC fare per person (Round Trip) to non-Central Government employees,  shall be allowed income-tax exemption subject to  fulfilment of conditions specified in para 4.

The income-tax exemption to receipt of deemed LTC fare by a non-Central Government employee (‘the employee’) shall be allowed subject to fulfilment of the following conditions:-

(a)       The employee exercises an option for the deemed LTC fare in lieu of the applicable LTC in the Block year 2018-21.

(b)       The employee spends a sum equals to three times of the value of the deemed LTC fare on purchase of goods / services which carry a GST rate of not less than 12% from GST registered vendors / service providers (‘the specified expenditure’) through digital mode during the period from the 12th of October, 2020 to 31st of March, 2021 (‘specified period’) and obtains a voucher indicating the GST number and the amount of GST paid.

(c)        An employee who spends less than three times of the deemed LTC fare on specified expenditure during the specified period shall not be entitled to receive full amount of deemed LTC fare and the related income-tax exemption and the amount of both shall be reduced proportionately as explained in Example-A below.

The DDOs shall allow income-tax exemption subject to fulfilment of the above conditions after obtaining copies of invoices of specified expenditure incurred during the specified period. Further, as this exemption is in lieu of the exemption provided for LTC fare, an employee who has exercised an option to pay income tax under concessional tax regime under section 115BAC of the Income-tax Act, 1961 shall not be entitled for this exemption.

The clarifications issued by the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance for the Central Government employees vide OM F. No 12(2)/2020-EII (A) Dated 20th October, 2020 and subsequent clarification, if any, issued in this regard shall apply mutatis mutandis to non-Central Government employees also subject to fulfilment of conditions specified in the preceding paras.

The legislative amendment to the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for this purpose shall be proposed in due course.

The post Exemption for payment of deemed LTC fare appeared first on newsmantra.in l Latest news on Politics, World, Bollywood, Sports, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Trending news | News Mantra.

Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey today reviewed the progress made so far by the Income Tax Department on Vivad se Vishwas Scheme in a high level meeting through video conferencing along with CBDT Chairman and Board members with all Principal Chief Commissioners of Income Tax across the country to expedite the Scheme which, he said, is highly beneficial to the taxpayers, adding further that “We need to advance the Vivad se Vishwas Scheme with greater persuasion and perseverance and must reach out to the taxpayers to facilitate all necessary handholding.”

In the meeting, suggestions and comments of the Field Officers were also discussed regarding the action plan for successful implementation of the Scheme in a time bound manner.

Finance Secretary Dr. Pandey said, “This is a scheme for the benefit and convenience of the taxpayers as they would get instant disposal of the dispute with no further cost of litigation besides monetary benefits in the form of waiver of penalty, interest and prosecution. With this Scheme, on the one hand, a taxpayer would be benefitted with stress-free time to put her/his efforts for more meaningful daily life/routine or expanding business activities while on the other, the government would  be getting its due long pending revenue and also, savings on the huge cost on resources that these disputes consume.”

In the meeting, CBDT Chairman Shri P.C. Mody mentioned the importance of cleaning up of demand for facilitating and persuading the taxpayers for filing declarations under the Scheme. He emphasized on Pr. Chief Commissioners of Income Tax to carry out all possible actions such as disposing pending rectifications, giving pending appeal effects, removing duplicate demands, etc. so as to arrive at a final demand for each assessee so that whenever a taxpayer files Form 1 or 2 under the Vivad se Vishwas Scheme, the Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax concerned is in a position to issue Form 3 promptly.

It was also decided in the meeting to adopt a proactive approach for implementation of the Scheme by approaching taxpayers directly, guiding and facilitating them in filing of declarations and removing any difficulties or problems faced by them in availing the Scheme. It was further decided to have periodic review of the progress of the Scheme every fortnight.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020 was enacted on 17^th March, 2020 with the objective to reduce pending income tax litigation, generate timely revenue for the Government and to benefit taxpayers by providing them peace of mind, certainty and savings on account of time and resources that would otherwise be spent on the long-drawn and vexatious litigation process. In order to provide more time to taxpayers to settle disputes, earlier the date for filing declaration and making payment without additional amount under Vivad se Vishwas was extended from 31^st March 2020 to 30^th June, 2020. Later again, this date was extended further to 31^st December, 2020. Therefore, earlier both the declaration and the payment without additional amount under the Vivad se Vishwas were required to be made by 31^st December, 2020.

The post Date Extended for Vivad se Vishwas Scheme appeared first on newsmantra.in l Latest news on Politics, World, Bollywood, Sports, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Trending news | News Mantra.

The Income Tax Department carried out searches on 19.10.2020 in the cases of two Government contractors having premises in Purnea, Katihar and Saharasa and a silk trader in Bhagalpur in Bihar.  The searches were based on intelligence gathered, which indicated that large scale unaccounted cash was being generated and used for various purposes.

The contractors were making bogus claims of labour, transportation and fuel expenses, which were found to be not supported by any document. Further, they have been found to be withdrawing money in cash from the bank accounts of fictitious parties. Incriminating documents including signed blank cheques have been seized during the searches. In some cases, the liabilities were shown to be continuing in the books of accounts for bogus expenses. They were also maintaining undisclosed bank accounts, in which unaccounted cash was being deposited which was used for making fixed deposits, which in turn were pledged to Government departments as security for getting contracts.  Large cash withdrawals have also been noticed in these bank accounts. The assessees could not explain the purpose of these cash withdrawals. The transactions in the undisclosed bank accounts are being examined.

During the search, unaccounted cash, fixed deposits and bullion of more than Rs. 2.40 crore have been seized/restrained. In the case of the silk trader, unaccounted stock has also been detected. Evidences indicating suppression of income of about Rs. 10 crore, alongwith documents showing large unaccounted investments in immovable properties have been found and seized. These properties are in the process of being valued and attached.

Further investigations are in progress.

Assembly polls in Bihar will be held in three phases on October 28, November 3 and November 7. Most of the assembly bypolls will be held on November 3. Bypolls to the Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha seat in Bihar and some assembly seats in Manipur will take place on November 7.

The post More than Rs. 2.40 crore have been seized appeared first on newsmantra.in l Latest news on Politics, World, Bollywood, Sports, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Trending news | News Mantra.

During the search unexplained cash of around Rs. 69 lakh and jewellery of around Rs. 82 lakh have been seized till now. Besides, 18 bank lockers have been found and placed under restraint. A large number of incriminating documents and digital data in mobile phones, pen-drives and computers have also been found and seized.

The group had around 96 companies at a few common addresses, which were being used for routing money and for land holding. Most of the companies are found to have no real business and very few returns of income have been filed. Many have not filed returns with ROC. Some directors of these concerns, other than main family members, have accepted to be dummy directors with mere signing roles.

Innovative methods of tax evasion by increasing the cost of properties through intra-group transactions, on which tax is not paid, have been noticed. Substantial evidences of transactions outside the regular books of accounts, unaccounted cash expenses, and cash advances received and interest paid in cash have been found. Evidences of on-money transactions and corresponding unaccounted investments of about Rs. 100 crore in real estate projects-flats, shops and land deals have been found.

A large number of documents relating to properties, held in the names of several cooperative societies, have been found from a secret location. The real owners of these land holdings are being investigated and applicability of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 is also being examined. Registered and notarized sale-purchase agreements of agricultural lands with substantial cash component have also been found. At one of the premises, evidences pertaining to unaccounted property transactions uptoRs. 150 crore have been found.

Further investigations are in progress.

The post Income Tax search in Ahmedabad appeared first on newsmantra.in l Latest news on Politics, World, Bollywood, Sports, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Trending news | News Mantra.

Search action revealed that at the behest of Chinese individuals, more than 40 bank accounts were created in various dummy entities, entering into credits of more than Rs 1,000 Crore over the period. A subsidiary of Chinese company and its related concerns have taken over Rs 100 Crore bogus advances from shell entities for opening businesses of retail showrooms in India. Further, incriminating documents in respect of hawala transactions and laundering of money with active involvement of bank employees and Chartered accountants has been found as a result of search action. Evidences of foreign hawala transactions involving Hongkong and US dollars have also been unearthed. Further investigations are under progress.

The post Income Tax search on Chinese entities appeared first on newsmantra.in l Latest news on Politics, World, Bollywood, Sports, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Trending news | News Mantra.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) through a notification also extended the time limit for making various investments and claiming deductions under the I-T Act for the 2019-20 fiscal by a month till July 31, 2020.

The time for filing of original as well as revised income-tax returns for the FY 2018-19 (AY 2019-20) has been extended to 31st July, 2020.

Due date for income tax return for the FY 2019-20 (AY 2020-21) has been extended to 30th November, 2020. Hence, the returns of income which are required to be filed by 31st July, 2020 and 31st October, 2020 can be filed upto 30th November, 2020. Consequently, the date for furnishing tax audit report has also been extended to 31st October, 2020.

The date for payment of self-assessment tax in the case of a taxpayer whose self-assessment tax liability is up to ₹1 lakh has also been extended to 30th November, 2020. However, it is clarified that there will be no extension of date for the payment of self-assessment tax for the taxpayers having self-assessment tax liability exceeding Rs. 1 lakh. In this case, the whole of the self-assessment tax shall be payable by the due dates specified in the Income-tax Act, 1961 (IT Act) and delayed payment would attract interest under section 234A of the IT Act.

The date for making various investment/ payment for claiming deduction under Chapter-VIA-B of the IT Act which includes section 80C (LIC, PPF, NSC etc.), 80D (Mediclaim), 80G (Donations) etc has also been further extended to 31st July, 2020. Hence the investment/ payment can be made upto 31st July, 2020 for claiming the deduction under these sections for FY 2019-20.

The date for making investment/ construction/ purchase for claiming roll over benefit/ deduction in respect of capital gains under sections 54 to 54GB of the IT Act has also been further extended to 30th September, 2020. Therefore, the investment/ construction/ purchase made up to 30th September, 2020 shall be eligible for claiming deduction from capital gains.

The date for commencement of operation for the SEZ units for claiming deduction under section 10AA of the IT Act has also been further extended to 30th September, 2020 for the units which received necessary approval by 31st March, 2020.

The post Income tax return deadlines extended appeared first on newsmantra.in l Latest news on Politics, World, Bollywood, Sports, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Trending news | News Mantra.

1. S. No Section of the Income-tax Act Nature of Payment Existing Rate of TDS Reduced rate from 14/05/2020 to 31/03/2021
1 193 Interest on Securities 10% 7.5%
2 194 Dividend 10% 7.5%
3 194A Interest other than interest on securities 10% 7.5%
4 194C Payment of Contractors and sub-contractors 1% (individual/HUF)
2% (others) 0.75% (individual/HUF)
1.5% (others)
5 194D Insurance Commission 5% 3.75%
6 194DA Payment in respect of life insurance policy 5% 3.75%
7 194EE Payments in respect of deposits under National Savings Scheme 10% 7.5%
8 194F Payments on account of re-purchase of Units by Mutual Funds or UTI 20% 15%
9 194G Commission, prize etc., on sale of lottery tickets 5% 3.75%
10 194H Commission or brokerage 5% 3.75%
11 194-I(a) Rent for plant and machinery 2% 1.5%
12 194-I(b) Rent for immovable property 10% 7.5%
13 194-IA Payment for acquisition of immovable property 1% 0.75%
14 194-IB Payment of rent by individual or HUF 5% 3.75%
15 194-IC Payment for Joint Development Agreements 10% 7.5%
16 194J Fee for Professional or Technical Services (FTS), Royalty, etc. 2% (FTS, certain royalties, call centre)
10% (others) 1.5% (FTS, certain royalties, call centre)
7.5% (others)
17 194K Payment of dividend by Mutual Funds 10% 7.5%
18 194LA Payment of Compensation on acquisition of immovable property 10% 7.5%
19 194LBA(1) Payment of income by Business trust 10% 7.5%
20 194LBB(i) Payment of income by Investment fund 10% 7.5%
21 194LBC(1) Income by securitisation trust 25% (Individual/HUF)
30% (Others) 18.75% (Individual/HUF)
22.5% (Others)
22 194M Payment to commission, brokerage etc. by Individual and HUF 5% 3.75%
23 194-O TDS on e-commerce participants 1%
(w.e.f. 1.10.2020) 0.75%

2. Further, the rate of Tax Collection at Source (TCS) for the following specified receipts
has also been reduced by 25% for the period from 14th May, 2020 to 31st March, 2021:-

S. No Section of the Income-tax Act Nature of Receipts Existing Rate of TCS Reduced rate from 14/05/2020 to 31/03/2021
1 206C(1) Sale of
(a) Tendu Leaves 5% 3.75%
(b)Timber obtained under a forest lease 2.5% 1.875%
(c) timber obtained by any other mode 2.5% 1.875%
(d) Any other forest produce not being timber/tendu leaves 2.5% 1.875%
(e) scrap 1% 0.75%
(f) Minerals, being coal or lignite or iron ore 1% 0.75%
2 206C(1C) Grant of license, lease, etc. of
(a) Parking lot 2% 1.5%
(b) Toll Plaza 2% 1.5%
(c) Mining and quarrying 2% 1.5%
3 206C(1F) Sale of motor vehicle above 10 lakhs 1% 0.75%
4 206C(1H) Sale of any other goods 0.1%
(w.e.f 01.10.2020) 0.75%

3. Therefore, TDS on the amount paid or credited during the period from 14th May, 2020 to 31st March, 2021 shall be deducted at the reduced rates specified in the table in para 1 above. Similarly, the tax on the amount received or debited during the period from 14th May, 2020 to 31st March, 2021 shall be collected at the reduced rates specified in the table in para 2 above.

4. It is further stated that there shall be no reduction in rates of TDS or TCS, where the tax is required to be deducted or collected at higher rate due to non-furnishing of PAN/Aadhaar. For example, if the tax is required to be deducted at 20% under section 206AA of the Income-tax Act due to non-furnishing of PAN/Aadhaar, it shall be deducted at the rate of 20% and not at the rate of 15%.

5. Legislative amendments in this regard shall be proposed in due course.

The post Reduction in rate of Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) appeared first on newsmantra.in l Latest news on Politics, World, Bollywood, Sports, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Trending news | News Mantra.

On the basis of initiative taken by the Chief Commissioner, Meerut, Data Analytics team analysed suspected firms. They passed on an information on the basis of which CGST Meerut unearthed a case of issuance of fake GST invoices without actual supply of goods and passing on the said fraudulent ITC to the other existing firms after circulation of invoices through a chain of fake firms/ companies which are non- existing. These firms/ companies were operating from a small Janta Flat in Rohini Sector-6, New Delhi.

The modus operandi, inter alia, involved not only creating fake firms/ companies by misusing the IDs of different people but also purchasing non-active companies from others and getting the names of directors changed and using these for fake GST billing purposes. Before passing the ITC to ultimate business buyers, ITC was rotated multiple times among the non-existing firms and companies to make it difficult to find the trail.

Against these fake invoices, ITC was passed on to existing firms/ companies for further utilization in the payment of GST. The end recipients from these fake firms made payment through Bank which was subsequently withdrawn and returned back to those end recipients in cash after deduction of certain commission. On preliminary scrutiny, it appeared that the accused namely Shri Pradeep Kumar (kingpin) and his associates Shri Mohd. Shamshad and Shri Mohd. Sajjad had taken multiple GST Registrations at common address using common email ID and mobile number.

During the search conducted at Meerut, Moradabad and Delhi, incriminating records, cash of Rs. 9.56 lakhs, flex boards of several firms, rubber stamps of various firms/ companies, digital signature dongles, Credit / Debit Cards with different names, photographs, Bank chequebooks, PAN cards etc. have been recovered & seized.

The offence committed by the accused Sh. Pradeep Kumar and his associates Shri Mohd. Shamshad and Shri Mohd. Sajjad is covered under Section 132(1)(b) & (c) of the CGST Act 2017, falling in the category of cognizable and non-bailable offence under Section 132(5) and the same is punishable under Section 132(1)(i) of the said Act. Accordingly, the above 3 accused were arrested under Section 69 of the CGST Act, 2017 on 20.03.2020 and produced before the Economic Offences Court at Meerut. They have been sent to jail on judicial remand for 14 days on 21.03.2020 by order of the Special CJM, Meerut. Further investigations are underway.

The post Firm busted for claiming bogus Input Tax Credit appeared first on newsmantra.in l Latest news on Politics, World, Bollywood, Sports, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Trending news | News Mantra.