Snehal Kanzarkar, a law student, has analyzed the new rules enacted for appointment of the Members of the Tribunal. She has argued that the new rules do not comply with the guidelines laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court as regards the qualifications, experience and other conditions for appointment to tribunals. She has also claimed that the rules encroach upon judicial independence and are not in compliance with the law relating to separation of powers. She has requested that requisite changes should be made to the rules so as to make them compliant with the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court

Deliberate Defiance: Tribunal, Appellate Tribunal and other Authorities (Qualifications, Experience and other Conditions of Service of Members) Rules, 2020

The appointment of the Judges of Tribunal was regulated by the Tribunal, Appellate Tribunal and other Authorities (Qualifications, Experience and other Conditions of Service of Members) Rules, 1963. The government replaced these rules with the Tribunal, Appellate Tribunal and other Authorities (Qualifications, Experience and other Conditions of Service of Members) Rules, 2017 to incorporate changes in the qualification, salary, selection, appointment and other aspects of the appointment of judges to the ITAT and AAR.

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Senior Advocate Firoze Andhyarujina delivered a lecture in which he has explained all the nuances and intricacies of the ‘Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme in a detailed manner. The learned counsel has pinpointed the pitfalls in the scheme and also offered valuable suggestions on how they can be resolved so as to attain the laudable objective of the Government of eliminating the backlog of disputed cases

Mr. Firoze Andhyarujina, Senior Advocate, Bombay High Court was invited by the Chamber of Tax Consultants, Mumbai on February 14, 2020 to speak on the intricacies involved in Direct Tax –Vivad Se Vishwas Bill, 2020 (‘Scheme’).

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The Finance Bill 2020 proposes to create an Alternate Tax Regime by way of new Section 115BAC to give benefit of lower tax rates to individual and HUF tax payers. Advocate Narayan Jain has analyzed the proposal in detail. He has explained the precise implications with the aid of case studies and advised on the circumstances in which the taxpayers should opt for the new regime

Some taxpayers were hoping the exemptions and deductions would be increased. They were also expecting the income tax slabs to be widened. Everybody wanted the tax structure to be simplified and their tax burden to come down.

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CAs Ketan Ved, Urvi Mehta & Shraddha Jain have answered a few core questions that have arisen in the minds of taxpayers and tax professionals with regard to the interpretation of the Vivad Se Vishwas scheme. The learned authors have drawn on their experience and offered workable solutions to several questions

The Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Bill, 2020

Vivad se Vishwas [VsV or the Scheme] is the buzz word today amongst taxpayers and tax professionals.

In her Budget speech, the Finance Minister referred to this Scheme as one which will help reduce direct tax litigation,akin to the ‘Sabka Vishwas Scheme’ introduced last year for reducing Indirect Taxes litigation and which gave more than decent results.

The ‘Vivad Se Vishwas Bill, 2020’ i.e. ‘No dispute but Trust’Scheme has been introduced for steady settlement of pending income tax cases and as a measure to bring down pending litigation in Direct Taxes.
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Advocate Shashi Bekal has studied the provisions of clause 97 of the Finance Bill 2020 which seeks to regulate the power of the Tribunal to grant stay on recovery of demand. He has considered whether the said provision is directory in nature and not mandatory. He has also opined on whether the provision can be said to be arbitrary and therefore ultra vires the Constitution. The author has also argued that the provision will compel taxpayers to file Writ Petitions in the High Courts for stay of demand and thereby lead to unnecessary burden on the Courts

1. Proposed amendment:

The Finance Bill 2020, vide clause 97 proposed to provide that ITAT may grant stay under the subject to the condition that the assessee deposits not less than twenty per cent of the amount of tax, interest, fee, penalty, or any other sum payable under the provisions of this Act, or furnish security of equal amount in respect thereof.

In the first proposed proviso to Sub-section (2A) of section 254 Act after the words “from the date of such order” the following has been inserted:

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One of the subjects for discussion at the 22nd National Convention of the AIFTP which was held at Mumbai on 14th December 2019 was “e-assessments – paving way for pioneering tax reforms”. Dr. K. Shivaram, Sr.Advocate chaired the session and Mr. Mukesh Patel, Advocate, Ahmadabad, addressed on the subject. The subject, being new, involved a number of issues. For the benefits of tax professionals, a detailed article is published and video of the session is also hosted. Authors have also included the amendments proposed in the Finance Bill, 2020 regarding e-assessment and e-appeal before CIT(A). The authors have also made various suggestions

1. Introduction:

1.1. One of the suggestions made by the All India Federation of Tax Practitioners (AIFTP) from time to time is to introduce the Accountability provision in the Income -tax Act,1961(Act). Dr. Raja J. Chelliah in his committee report (1992) 197 ITR 99 (St) (112) on accountability had recommended that, “The Assessing Officers should be made accountable for their actions. If the percentage of demands not up held by the Tribunals is higher than a reasonable figure, say 50 percent, the officer should be given a blank mark and reprimanded. On the other hand, an Assessing Officer should be protected and defended if he has obeyed instructions of the Board and followed case laws even though audit might raise about his actions”

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CA Nidhi Surana Jain has explained the provisions of the newly introduced “Vivad se Vishwas” scheme with special reference to sections 270A and 270AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961. She has pointed out that certain controversial interpretations could arise which could lead to further litigation. She has requested the CBDT and the Central government to work hand in hand and remove the areas of ambiguity and close the loopholes arising from the interpretation

In the light of the recent budget announcement of “Vivad se Vishwas” Scheme by Hon’ble Finance Minister Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman on 1st February 2020 during her budget speech for FY 2020-21, which literally  translates into “No Dispute but Trust” Scheme, it is necessary to look at the current Tax Regimen concerning penalty and gauge the Income-tax department’s pulse and exactly where it is at concerning to penalizing of tax payer.

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The Finance Bill 2020 has sought to bring in a sweeping change in residential status of Individuals for the purpose of the Act. Advocate Aditya Ajgaonkar has conducted a detailed study of the proposed amendments and explained its nuances. He has argued that the proposed amendment is a harbinger of a shift in the policy of the government to move away from determining the residential status of an individual solely on basis of the individual’s stay in the country and moving towards citizenship as an emergent aspect in determining the residential status of a person

Introduction

The annual budget 2020 as reflected inthe Finance Bill 2020 that has been tabled in the Parliament by the Hon’ble Finance Minister has come and gone and has evoked considerable comment from varied sources.Amongst a slew of measures that were introduced by the said bill, the amendment made to Section 6 of the Income tax act, 1961, is perhaps significant in as much as it seems to be the harbinger of a not so subtle shift in the policy of the government to move away from determining the residential status of an individual solely on basis of the individual’s stay in the country and moving towards citizenship asan emergent aspect in determining the residential status of a person.

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CA Ashish Chadha has conducted an expert analysis of the The Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Bill, 2020 and explained all of its salient features. He has also highlighted potential controversial issues arising out of the scheme which need further deliberation

Conforming the declaration made by the Finance Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in the budget speech, the Government has formally presented "The Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Bill, 2020" (‘Vivad se Vishwas Scheme’ or ‘the scheme’) on 5 February 2020 before the Parliament.The Vivad se Vishwas Scheme aims to provide resolution of pending direct tax disputes. The provisions of the Vivad se Vishwas Scheme are applicable in cases where appeals have been filed by the taxpayers or the income-tax authority, which are pending before the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) [‘CIT(A)’], Income-tax Appellate Tribunal (‘ITAT’), High Court or Supreme Court as on the 31st day of January 2020, irrespective of whether the demand in such cases is pending or has been paid.

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In Doshi Accounting Services vs. DCIT, the Special Bench of the ITAT has held that the transfer pricing provisions are applicable even to a case in which the income of the assessee is eligible for 100% tax exemption and is not chargeable to tax in India. Advocate Shashi Bekal has conducted an in-depth analysis of the judgement and explained its nuances. He has also argued that the judgement may require reconsideration

1. Introduction

Recently, the Hon’ble President of the Income Tax Appellate tribunal (ITAT) on a reference made by a Division Bench constituted a Special Bench to decide the following question of law (1) :

“Whether or not the provisions of Section 92 can be invoked in a situation in which income of the assessee is eligible for tax exemption or tax holiday and thus not actually chargeable to tax in India, or in a situation in which there cannot be any motive in manipulating the prices at which international transactions have been entered into?”

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