The CBDT has issued Circular No. 27 of 2016 dated 14th July 2016 to further provide clarifications to various doubts and concerns raised by the stakeholders with regard to the Income Declaration Scheme, 2016 which came into effect on 1st June, 2016. The CBDT has in particular clarified the query whether the payment under the Scheme can be made out of undisclosed income without including the same in the income declared, thereby bringing down the effective rate of tax, surcharge and penalty payable under the Scheme to around 31%. The CBDT has already issued three sets of FAQs vide Circular Nos. 17, 24 & 25 of 2016.

The Ministry of Finance has issued a Press Release stating that the Government has accepted the recommendations of the Sub-Committee of the High Level Committee to interact with Trade & Industry on Tax Laws on issues relating to compliance procedure for the excise duty,records to be maintained and other relevant administrative issues

The CBDT has issued a directive dated 11th July 2016 stating that the statutory notice to be issued under section 143(2) of the Income-tax Act has been modified. There will henceforth be three formats of the said notice namely: (i) Limited Scrutiny, (ii) Complete Scrutiny and (iii) Manual Scrutiny. The revised format of 143(2) notice(s) is attached. The CBDT has directed that all scrutiny notices shall henceforth be issued in these revised formats

A few copies of a publication titled “212 Frequently Asked Questions on Survey – Direct Taxes” are available. The publication is in the unique questions – answers format and explains the provisions and various controversies relating to Survey under Direct Taxes. The publication answers 212 Questions of practical importance in a simple and lucid language. It is divided into XX Chapters and deals with all important issues relating to survey, such as specific functions or ceremonies, Business Premises, Authorities, Powers and Provisions, TDS Survey, Survey of Premises, Recording of Statement, Admission by an assessee and Retraction by an assessee, Consequent Proceedings, Rules of Evidence, Penalties and Prosecutions, Settlement of Survey Cases, Allied Revenue Laws (Sales Tax / VAT / Central Excise), Accounting Aspects, Practical Issues, Circulars issued by the CBDT, Precautions necessary for presurvey, Checklist, etc

The CBDT has vide Notification dated 6th July 2016 appointed several officers in the grade of Assistant Commissioners of Income-tax (Junior Scale) to officiate as Deputy Commissioners of Income-tax (Senior Time Scale) in the pay scale of Rs. 15,600-39,000 (plus grade pay of Rs. 6,600 in pay band-3) with immediate effect or from the date of assumption of charge, whichever is later

The CBDT has issued a press release dated 6th July 2016 stating that it has been decided that the Income Computation and Disclosure Standards (ICDS) notified under section 145 (2) of the Income -tax Act, 1961 shall be applicable from 1.4.2016 i.e. previous year 2016-17 (Assessment Year 2017-18). The notification to this effect will be issued shortly

The CBEC has issued a Circular No. 1035/23/2016-CX dated 4th July 2016 in which it has laid down the law and the procedure to be followed before recovery proceedings are initiated against an assessee. The CBEC has directed that in cases where a stay application is pending before the Commissioner (Appeals) or CESTAT for periods prior to 06.08.2014, no recovery shall be made during the pendency of the stay application. In cases where demand is confirmed by the CESTAT or the High Court, recovery proceeding may be initiated after a period of sixty days from the date of the order provided that no stay is in operation

There has been unprecedented interest amongst taxpayers and tax professionals towards the aforesaid two schemes recently announced by the Ministry of Finance. Taxpayers and professionals are grappling with a number of questions relating to the implementation of the said schemes. To assist the taxpayers and professionals, we have created a panel of eminent Advocates and Chartered Accountants and requested them to answer queries relating to both schemes. We have also ensured that all resources (CBDT Circulars, videos etc) are available at one place so that they can be conveniently retrieved. We request all taxpayers and professionals to avail of the free advice being offered by the eminent experts and make both schemes a resounding success.