{"id":14536,"date":"2020-02-08T13:31:41","date_gmt":"2020-02-08T08:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/itatonline.org\/info\/?p=14536"},"modified":"2020-02-08T13:31:41","modified_gmt":"2020-02-08T08:01:41","slug":"tax-bar-meets-finance-minister-offers-valuable-suggestions-reg-finance-bill-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/info\/tax-bar-meets-finance-minister-offers-valuable-suggestions-reg-finance-bill-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Tax Bar Meets Finance Minister &#038; Offers Valuable Suggestions Reg Finance Bill 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Jan-Jan-Ka Budget-An Interactive Meeting with Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman Hon\u2019ble Finance Minster of India at Mumbai on February 7, 2020.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>First time in the History of Income-tax, Immediately after the presentation of Budget, The Finance Minister with her team Comprising of Hon\u2019ble Finance  Secretary,  Revenue Secretary, Secretary Expenditure, Chairman CBDT, Chairman CBIC,Secretary Economic Affairs, Chief Commissioners of Income -tax Mumbai and Commissioners of Income tax (Mumbai) have arranged an interactive session with the stake holders including Tax professionals.<\/p>\n<p>The Hon\u2019ble Finance Minister and her team answered most of the queries raised by the audience. More than 500 stake holders from different associations and companies have attended the interactive session. Logical explanations have been given for various issues raised by the participants. Further, the Hon\u2019ble Finance Minister stated that she will be visiting all major cities to interact with other stakeholders. <\/p>\n<p>On behalf of various Tax Bars, several representations was made.<\/p>\n<p>The Tax professionals will be sending a detailed representation to Hon\u2019ble Chairman CBDT in due course of time and has requested the Hon\u2019ble Chairman CBDT to depute Hon\u2019ble Member legislation to discuss the proposed amendments in the Finance Bill, 2020, clause by clause with objective suggestions.<\/p>\n<p>Tax Professionals are of the opinion that if this process of interaction is followed every year, it will help the revenue, tax payers and tax professionals to avoid unintended litigations.<\/p>\n<p>Editorial Board, AIFTP.  <\/p>\n<p>Copy of the representation of the AIFTP is attached.     <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ynaB9UoyPMo\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Dividend distribution tax vs income tax on dividend.<br \/>Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman answers <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MrMotilalOswal?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MrMotilalOswal<\/a> at the post-budget interaction with industry leaders in Mumbai.<\/p>\n<p>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MK0PF4itVc\">https:\/\/t.co\/MK0PF4itVc<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4tR7Cq7Ptp\">pic.twitter.com\/4tR7Cq7Ptp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; BloombergQuint (@BloombergQuint) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BloombergQuint\/status\/1225813972609204224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 7, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman explains why no changes were made in LTCG. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zA4LMpd7mr\">pic.twitter.com\/zA4LMpd7mr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; BloombergQuint (@BloombergQuint) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BloombergQuint\/status\/1225740123393810434?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 7, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"center\">ALL INDIA FEDERATION OF  TAX PRACTITIONERS<br \/>\n  215, Rewa Chambers,31 New Marine Lines,  Mumbai 400020.<br \/>\n  Tel. No:  22006342\/49706343, Fax: 22006342\/ E-mail: <a href=\"mailto:aiftpho@gmail.com%20\/Website\">aiftpho@gmail.com \/Website<\/a>:  aiftponline.org<br \/>\n  &#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">February 6, 2020 <br \/>\n  To, <br \/>\n  Mrs  Nirmala Sitharaman <br \/>\n  The  Hon&rsquo;ble Finance Minister <br \/>\n  Ministry  of Finance,<br \/>\n  Government  of India, <br \/>\n  North  Block, <br \/>\n  NEW  DELHI 110001 <\/p>\n<p>Sub:  Suggestions to the Budget and Finance Bill, 2020. <\/p>\n<p>Respected  Madam, <\/p>\n<p>Madam, we would take this opportunity to  congratulate your honour&nbsp; &nbsp;on a &lsquo;directional&rsquo; budget for India, which  will bear fruits in the years to come. All India Federation of Tax  Practitioners (&lsquo;AIFTP&rsquo;) is an Apex body of Tax Practitioners of India. It has  more than 9000 members across the country and 150 associations as its members.  One of the main objects of the AIFTP is to make representation for better  administration of tax laws.\n  <\/p>\n<p>Madam, AIFTP has already sent a detailed  suggestions earlier. In this representation the AIFTP is restricting its  suggestions only to specific issues relating to the Finance Bill, 2020. Our  suggestion are as follows:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span dir=\"ltr\"><strong>The  Direct &nbsp;TaxVivad se Vishwas Bill, 2020<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Madam , we highly appreciate the  proposed&nbsp; &ldquo;The Direct&nbsp; Tax&nbsp;&nbsp; Vivad se Vishwas Bill, 2020&rdquo;&nbsp; which is introduced for dispute related  direct taxes .&nbsp; There could be number of  issues which may arise while implementation of the scheme.&nbsp; We desired that there could be a &nbsp;regional ,Co -Ordination committee of the  Departmental officials , representatives of the&nbsp;&nbsp; tax professionals from various  professional&nbsp; organizations&nbsp; who can interact with the officials concerned  on day to day basis and get the clarifications&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; and inform the professionals who in turn  advice the assesses to avail the benefit of the scheme . According to us  this&nbsp; will help for&nbsp; effective implementation of the scheme .&nbsp; <br \/>\n  Madam ,&nbsp; we&nbsp;  have two issues with respect to the successful implementation of the  scheme.\n  <\/p>\n<p><em>Clause 9(a)  (i) :&nbsp; Firstly,&nbsp; <\/em>it is a  well-known fact that a large number of cases pertaining to &lsquo;penny stock&rsquo; are  the ones that would seek refuge under this scheme. The number of cases and the  quantum of addition are both high. Exclusion of assessment arising on account  of 153C of the Act, further defeats the cases where information has been  received subsequent to a search at another premises, as most of the cases of  penny stock might have its inceptions in such a manner. Further, discrimination  between a reassessment proceeding under section 147 of the Act and 153C of the  Act, where the earlier mode of assessments is allowed to apply for the scheme,  seems irrational. Furthermore, as discussed above, there are a lot of &lsquo;penny  stock&rsquo; cases where prosecution has already been initiated by the department  though the appeals&nbsp; are&nbsp; pending before the CIT (A) or Tribunal ,&nbsp;&nbsp; these cases would not fall within the ambit  of the scheme. <\/p>\n<p><em>Clause&nbsp; 9(a)(ii): Secondly ,&nbsp; <\/em>the  &lsquo;institution of prosecution&rsquo; being a criterion for non-eligibility under the  scheme. Since, the scheme of compounding is always open for a tax payer,  exclusion of such assessment years, where prosecution has been initiated, seems  a bit irrational and defeats the purpose of reducing litigation.<br \/>\n  &nbsp;This needs to be addressed as early as  possible for its successful implementation.&nbsp;  AIFTP will make an honest attempt to guide the assesses to avail the  benefits of the scheme .<br \/>\n  Madam, AIFTP  &amp; itatonline.org have proposed a committee of senior professionals who have  agreed to answer various issued raised&nbsp;  by the professionals&nbsp; across the  country .&nbsp;&nbsp; <br \/>\n  <strong>2. One-time  settlement of prosecution matters before various Magistrate Courts.<\/strong>\n  <\/p>\n<p>Under the present  system, it takes more than 20 years to decide prosecution matters relating to  Direct Taxes. Hence, the deterrent provisions fail to achieve the desired  object due to the delay in disposal of cases by the trial courts. Substantial  matters of prosecutions are launched for technical defaults for delay in  depositing the tax deducted at source though the tax deducted was paid along  with interests. The compounding fees fixed are very high.It may be fixed  reasonably so that the assesses can settle the disputes by paying compounding  fees. The tax administration may consider one-time compounding  application.&nbsp; As per the guide lines  dated December 23, 2014, Compounding application will not be entertained if the  application is filed after 12 months of the filing of complaint, however, as  per the new Circular dated June 14, 2019, CBDT has relaxed the period to 24  months. There are instances where the accused has received the intimation of  the filing of complaint after 12 months of the filing of the complaint. In few  cases the application for compounding was not entertained only on technical  grounds. As per the Act and judicial decisions there is no limitation for filing  of compounding application. The same can be filed even after the Court holds  the accused guilty of the offence. It is desired that the restrictions imposed  in the circular may be withdrawn.&nbsp; When a  show-cause notice is issued, the assessee submits their reply thereafter no  intimation is received by the assessee as to whether the submission is accepted  or not accepted by the department. It is the duty of concerned officer to  inform the assessee in writing whether the prosecution is launched or not.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>AIFTP is of the  considered opinion that one time settlement to all pending prosecution matters  before Magistrate court may be desired , which will help the revenue as well as  the assesses. <\/p>\n<p><strong>3. <\/strong><strong>Increase  in safe harbour limit of 5 percent under section 43CA, 50C and 56 of the Act to  10 percent<\/strong> \n  <\/p>\n<p>Vide Clauses 22, 27 &amp; 29 it is  proposed to increase the real estate circle rate limit to 10% from 5% for  purposes of tax. It is highly appreciated as the proposal was on the basis of  representations with a view to minimise hardship in real-estate transaction and  provide relief to the sector. This is good, but this itself shows that the  Stamp Valuation in many cases is higher than the actual market prices. <br \/>\n  Further, it is also felt that, in a  metropolitan city like Mumbai in certain areas, the difference in Ready  reckoner rates and the actual property prices is as high as 40 percent. &nbsp;<br \/>\n  Therefore, a band-aid solution is not  enough and a thorough review of the Stamp Valuation is required it may be  increased at least 25% .\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>4.S<\/strong><strong>tay by  the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT)<\/strong><strong> <\/strong><br \/>\n  <strong>Clause&nbsp; .97 . S.254 (2A):<\/strong> \n<\/p>\n<p>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 percent 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.<br \/>\n  &nbsp;Section 254 (1) of the Act has given the  appellate Tribunal wide powers and the liberty to pass such an order as it  deems fit. Question arises, whether, with the introduction of this provision,  has the powers of the Tribunal been curtailed or can the Tribunal in exercise  of its powers conferred under section 254(1) of the Act, still pass an order  granting a stay of demand for a deposit of less than 20 per cent is debatable .  The proposed provision may be held unconstitutional .<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;On analyse the various stay orders passed by  the Tribunal , it is only in a well deserved&nbsp;  cases the ITAT has passed the order to&nbsp;  deposit less than 20% of tax in dispute&nbsp;  otherwise the ITAT has always&nbsp;  taken interest of the revenue&nbsp; by  passing the order to deposit more than 20 % of the cases . In stay granted  matters&nbsp; the ITAT Order always&nbsp; states that if&nbsp; the Assessee asks for an adjournment the stay  will be vacated . The&nbsp; delay in disposal  of stay granted matters not due to assessee , in most of the cases due to  department .&nbsp;&nbsp; \n  <\/p>\n<p>The proposed amendment &nbsp;will only increase the income tax litigations .\n  <\/p>\n<p>Accordingly the&nbsp; AIFTP&nbsp;  is of the considered opinion the proposed amendment may be dropped . \n  <\/p>\n<p><strong>5.Tax deduction  at Source<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>S.192: <\/strong>Salaried persons are given an  option to chose the new scheme of assessment , however the employer has to  deduct tax at source&nbsp; on salary at the  time of credit or payment .&nbsp; If&nbsp; the employee opt for new scheme at the end of  the year , how the tax deducted will be adjusted . There could be&nbsp; case where the employee may opt for new  scheme in the beginning&nbsp; of the year and  may change his mind at the end , if employer deduct the tax only at the end of  year he may be held liable to pay interest for failure to deduct tax at source  . Some clarification may be required .\n  <\/p>\n<p>At present there are more than 25 sections under which the assessee is  required to deduct tax at source and file the returns. Many a times there is no  clarity on various issues. It is desired that one may consider having concept  of passbook and only one return for all Tax deducted at source. The assessee  may deposit the amount as advance or may adjust against&nbsp;&nbsp; various taxes to be deducted. This will help  to reduce the compliance provisions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>6. Tax on&nbsp; dividend received by&nbsp; Mutual fund .<\/strong><br \/>\n    <strong>Clause .80 . S. 194K. <\/strong>\n  <\/p>\n<p>As per the new proposed provision the tax is to be deducted&nbsp; on dividend on&nbsp; mutual funds . There are number of  senior&nbsp; Citizens&nbsp; who have planned their&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; retirement&nbsp;  by&nbsp; investing&nbsp; in&nbsp;  mutual funds .Sudden change in the taxability of dividend may lead to  financial&nbsp; difficulties .&nbsp; There are number of senior citizens who are  not having taxable income and having only dividend income . Now the tax is  deducted at source , they have to file their return and get the refund . Which  is unintended .&nbsp; AIFTP is of the opinion  that if&nbsp; declaration is filed by the  assessee that he is not&nbsp; having the  taxable income the TDS need not be deducted . This will avoid unintended  hardship to the number of assesses .<\/p>\n<p><strong>7. Clause 23: S 44AB : Tax  audit .<\/strong>\n  <\/p>\n<p>The increase in limit for tax audit from 1 crore to five crores ,  whether it apply to professionals&nbsp; also  requires clarification .\n  <\/p>\n<p><strong>8.Allocation of funds  to the judiciary<\/strong><strong> <\/strong>\n  <\/p>\n<p>One of the road block for the development  of the economy is huge pendency of litigation in before the courts. No doubt  the government is taking proactive measures to reduce the litigation, however  the process isn&rsquo;t effective and efficient enough to achieve the desired  results. Further, for attracting investments, the speedy disposal of the  disputes is imperative.&nbsp; One of the  reasons for delay in disposal of the cases is on account of not appointing the  judges on time. As the Government is aware of the number of judges that are  going to retire in a particular year, the process of appointment can be done  well in advance, to ensure that on the very next day of retirement new judge is  appointed. This will require better management in the judiciary and infrastructure.  Currently, there is a lack of vision and funds for the judiciary. \n  <\/p>\n<p>The All India Federation of tax  Practitioners have, from time to time suggested that there should be separate  allocation of funds for the judiciary in the Budget proposal. It is noteworthy  that the Central and State Governments are the largest litigants in most of the  forums. More than 60 per cent litigation in Courts has its genesis in the  Central Acts. \n  <\/p>\n<p>The Judiciary cannot make the  representation to the government, it is upon the various Bar Associations  across the country to make representation to the Government regarding the  difficulties faced by the judiciary, only then the common man in can have  access to speedy justice.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; \n  <\/p>\n<p>We request the Government to take  positive measures to resolve this issue while taking into consideration the  suggestions from various Bar Associations across the country.\n  <\/p>\n<p>Madam, we request you to kindly consider  the afore-mentioned suggestions.\n  <\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;We  will be sending details representation on various clauses in due course of  time&nbsp; \n  <\/p>\n<p>Thanking you <br \/>\n  For All India Federation of Tax  Practitioners<br \/>\n  Mrs Nikita Badeka&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;   Dr K. Shivaram&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Mr  .Vipul Joshi <\/p>\n<p>National PresidentSr Advocate&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Convenor <br \/>\n  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Past President AIFTP<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>First time in the History of Income-tax, Immediately after the presentation of Budget, The Finance Minister with her team Comprising of Hon\u2019ble Finance Secretary, Revenue Secretary, Secretary Expenditure, Chairman CBDT, Chairman CBIC,Secretary Economic Affairs, Chief Commissioners of Income -tax Mumbai and Commissioners of Income tax (Mumbai) have arranged an interactive session with the stake holders including Tax professionals<\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/info\/tax-bar-meets-finance-minister-offers-valuable-suggestions-reg-finance-bill-2020\/\">Read more &#8250;<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-information","category-others"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14536\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itatonline.org\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}