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.

The CBDT has issued Notification No. 55/2016 dated 28th June 2016 by which it has notified Rules 11UB and 11UC which set out the manner of determination of fair market value and reporting requirement for Indian concerns under the Indirect transfer provisions in section 9(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961

With regard to The Income Declaration Scheme, 2016, the CBDT had earlier Circular No. 17 of 2016 dated 20th May, 2016 and Circular No. 24 of 2016 dated 27th June 2016 in which it has clarified queries received from the public about various provisions of the Scheme. The CBDT has now issued Circular No. 25 of 2016 dated 30th June 2016 to clarify further issues relating to the scheme

With regard to The Income Declaration Scheme, 2016, the CBDT had earlier Circular No. 17 of 2016 dated 20th May, 2016 in which it provided clarifications to 14 queries. The CBDT has now issued Circular No. 24 of 2016 dated 27th June 2016 in which it has clarified further queries received from the public about various provisions of the Scheme

The CBDT has issued Notification dated 22nd June 2016 to clarify the law on the retrospective applicability of the anti-avoidance GAAR rule. The Notification has amended Rule 10U(1)(d) to provide that GAAR will not apply to income earned/received by any person from transfer of investments made before 1st April 2017. Earlier, this date was 30th August 2010. Rule 10U(2) also has been amended to provide that GAAR will apply to any arrangement, irrespective of the date it has been entered into, if tax benefit is obtained on or after 1st April 2017. Earlier, this date was 1st April 2015.

Further to Circular No 22/2016 dated 8th June 2016, the CBDT has issued Circular No. 23 dated 24th June 2016 in which it has provided clarification to important questions such as whether whether tax collection at source under section 206C(1D) at the rate of 1% will apply in cases where the sale consideration received is partly in cash and partly in cheque and the cash receipt is less than two lakh rupees. The CBDT has also clarified the issue whether tax collection at source under section 206C (1D) will apply only to cash component or in respect of whole of sales consideration.

Shri. Atulesh Jindal, the Chairperson of the CBDT, has issued a directive dated 24th June 2016 in which he has lamented that a large number of grievances are overdue for an inordinately long period of time. He has termed the overall progress on disposal of grievances as unsatisfactory and noted that in spite of repeated instructions from the Board from time to time, a large number of grievances have not been disposed of within the prescribed timeline of 60 days from the date of their receipt. It is again reiterated that the grievances should be resolved expeditiously. The officers have been warned that if the delays are without any valid reasons, administrative action may be initiated for inaction on the part of respective officers

The CBDT has vide Order No. 122 of 2016 dated 24th June 2016 ordered the postings and transfers of several officers in the grade of Additional and Joint Commissioners of Income-tax with immediate effect and until further orders

The CBDT has issued Notification No 9/2016 dated 09th June 2016 by which it has provided clarification on the following issues (a) Due date for quarterly uploading of 15G/H declarations by payers on e-filing portal and (b) The manner for dealing with Form 15G/15H received by payer during the period from 01.10.2015 to 31.03.2016.

Rule 8D has been amended by the Income–tax (14th Amendment) Rules, 2016 notified vide Notification No 43/2016 dated 2nd June 2016. Clause (ii) of Rule 8D(2) dealing with indirect expenditure by way of interest has been omitted. It is also stated that the disallowance u/s 14A r.w Rule 8D cannot exceed the expenditure claimed by the assessee. The limit of 0.5% under clause (iii) has been increased to 1%. However, the 1% will apply to the annual average of the monthly averages of the opening and closing balances of the value of investments, income from which does not or shall not form part of total income. The question whether the disallowance can exceed the exempt income and whether the 1% is to be applied only to investments which have generated exempt income during the previous year has not been clarified and hence litigation on those points will continue