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Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes
Dated: 22nd June, 2021
PRESS RELEASE
Finance Ministry interaction with tax professionals, other stakeholders and Infosys on issues in the new Income Tax Portal
A meeting was held between senior officials of the Finance Ministry and Infosys on 22.06.2021 on issues in the new Income Tax Portal. The meeting was presided over by Hon’ble FM, Smt. N. Sitharaman. MoS(Finance), Shri Anurag Singh Thakur also participated in the meeting. The interaction was attended by Shri Tarun Bajaj, Secretary Revenue, Shri J. B. Mohapatra, Chairman, CBDT, Smt. Anu J. Singh, Member(L & Systems), CBDT and other senior officers of CBDT. Infosys was represented by its MD & CEO, Shri Salil Parekh and COO, Shri Praveen Rao and other members of their team. The meeting was also attended by 10 tax professionals from across the country, including representatives of ICAI and All India Federation of Tax Practitioners (AIFTP).
The new efiling portal 2.0 of Income Tax Department (incometax.gov.in) went live on 07.06.2021. Since its launch, there were numerous glitches in the functioning of the new portal. Taking note of the grievances voiced on social media by taxpayers, tax professionals and other stakeholders, the Hon’ble Finance Minister had also flagged the issues to the vendor M/s Infosys, calling upon them to address these concerns. However, since the portal continued to be plagued by technical glitches causing inconvenience to taxpayers, it was decided to hold a meeting between Finance Ministry and Infosys as also other stakeholders on 22.06.2021. Suggestions in respect of the glitches on the portal were invited online by 18.06.2021. More than 700 emails detailing over 2000 issues including 90 unique issues/problems in the portal were received in response to the same.
During the meeting, the Hon’ble FM, emphasized that, enhanced taxpayer service is an important priority for the present Government and every effort should be made to amplify the same. While appreciating the role of ICAI and its President, Shri Jambusaria and the ICAI’s positive contribution in giving shape to today’s meeting, she complimented them for providing specific nuanced inputs lying between the intersection of technology and taxation. Hon’ble FM also expressed her gratitude to the people who sent inputs through email and assured them that their suggestions would be taken up in all earnestness and would be addressed on priority.
The Hon’ble Minister exhorted Infosys(service provider) to work on the tax portal to make it more humane and user-friendly. The FM expressed her deep concern on the various problems being faced by the stakeholders in the new portal which was expected to provide a seamless experience to taxpayers. The FM asked Infosys to address all issues without further loss of time, improve their services, redress grievances on priority as it was impacting taxpayers adversely. The Hon’ble FM concluded her remarks by appreciating the taxpayers who have kept up with the timelines of compliances despite the Covid-19 pandemic. The FM also hoped that the positive engagement between taxpayers, tax professionals and the Government would continue in future. She assured them that the Government is responsive to their problems and is proactively committed to enhance taxpayer service and experience.
The team from Infosys, which was led by the CEO and COO of Infosys, took note of the issues highlighted by the stakeholders. They also noted the observations and suggestions received from various users and stakeholders through email. The Infosys team acknowledged the technical issues in the functioning of the portal and shared the status of the resolution w.r.t the issues highlighted by the stakeholders. They informed that Infosys has been working to fix the technical issues noticed in the functioning of the portal and that they have augmented the resources for execution of the project on the hardware as well as the application side and that some of the issues have already been identified and fixed. For the other remaining technical issues, they assured that their teams were working on these issues and gave the expected timelines within which the issues such as e-proceedings, Form 15CA/15CB, TDS statements, DSC, viewing of past ITRs etc. are expected to be resolved in about a week. It was also decided that the timelines mentioned by Infosys to redress the issues would also be placed in public domain in due course.
This interaction was followed by another detailed meeting between senior officers of the Department of Revenue and the Infosys team, covering technical issues in the new portal.
(Surabhi Ahluwalia)
Commissioner of Income Tax
(Media & Technical Policy)
Official Spokesperson, CBDT
Ministry of Finance
Finance Ministry refutes news media reports of alleged black money held by Indians in Switzerland
Information sought from Swiss Authorities to verify increase/decrease of deposits
Dated: 19 JUN 2021
Certain reports have appeared in the media on 18.06.2021 stating that funds of Indians in Swiss Banks have risen to over Rs 20,700 crore (CHF 2.55 billion) at the end of 2020 from Rs 6,625 crore (CHF 899 million) at the end of 2019, reversing a 2 year declining trend. It has also been stated that this is also the highest figure of deposits in the last 13 years.
Media reports allude to the fact that the figures reported are official figures reported by banks to Swiss National Bank (SNB) and do not indicate the quantum of much debated alleged black money held by Indians in Switzerland. Further, these statistics do not include the money that Indians, NRIs or others might have in Swiss banks in the names of third–country entities.
However, the customer deposits have actually fallen from the end of 2019. The funds held through fiduciaries has also more than halved from end of 2019. The biggest increase is in “Other amounts due from customers”. These are in form of bonds, securities and various other financial instruments.
It is pertinent to point out that India and Switzerland are signatories to the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (MAAC) and both countries have also signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) pursuant to which, the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) is activated between the two countries for sharing of financial account information annually for calendar year 2018 onwards.
Exchanges of Financial Account information in respect of residents of each country have taken place between both countries in 2019 as well as 2020. In view of the existing legal arrangement for exchange of information of financial accounts (which has a significant deterrent effect on tax evasion through undisclosed assets abroad), there does not appear to be any significant possibility of the increase of deposits in the Swiss banks which is out of undeclared incomes of Indian residents.
Further, the following factors could potentially explain the increase in deposits:
a. Increase in the deposits held by Indian companies in Switzerland owing to increased business transactions
b. Increase in deposits owing to the business of Swiss Bank branches located in India
c. Increase in Inter- bank transactions between Swiss and Indian Banks
d. A capital increase for a subsidiary of a Swiss Company in India and
e. Increase in the liabilities connected with the outstanding derivative financial instruments
The Swiss Authorities have been requested to provide the relevant facts along with their view on possible reasons for increase/decrease in the light of the media reports highlighted above.
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RM/MV/KMN
(Release ID: 1728429)
HC admits question on “whether the provisions of Section 271(1)(c) would apply with respect to the return of income, as originally filed or to the revised return of income pursuant to opportunity u/s 153A of the Act"
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes
New Delhi, 16th June, 2021
PRESS RELEASE
Net Direct Tax collections for the Financial Year 2021-22 have grown at over 100%
Advance Tax collections for F.Y. 2021-22 stand at Rs. 28,780crore which shows a growth of approximately 146%
Net Direct Tax collections for the F.Y. 2021-22 have grown at a robust pace despite the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy
Refunds amounting to Rs. 30,731 crore have been issued in the F.Y. 2021-22
The figures of Direct Tax collections for the Financial Year 2021-22, as on 15.06.2021 show that net collections are at Rs.1,85,871crore compared to Rs. 92,762crore over the corresponding period of the preceding year, representing an increase of 100.4% over the collections of the preceding year. The net Direct Tax collections include Corporation Tax (CIT) at Rs. 74,356crore (net of refund) and Personal Income Tax(PIT) including Security Transaction Tax(STT) at Rs. 1,11,043 crore (net of refund).
The Gross collection of Direct Taxes(before adjusting for refunds) for the F.Y. 2021-22 stands at Rs. 2,16,602crore compared to Rs. 1,37,825 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding year. This includes Corporation Tax(CIT) at Rs. 96,923crore and Personal Income Tax (PIT) including Security Transaction Tax(STT) at Rs. 1,19,197 crore. Minor head wise collection comprises Advance Tax of Rs. 28,780crore, Tax Deducted at Source of Rs.1,56,824 crore, Self-Assessment Tax of Rs. 15,343crore; Regular Assessment Tax of Rs. 14,079crore; Dividend Distribution Tax of Rs.1086crore and Tax under other minor heads of Rs. 491crore.
Despite extremely challenging initial months of the new Fiscal , the Advance Tax collections for the first quarter of the F.Y. 2021-22 stand at Rs. 28,780 croreagainst Advance Tax collections of Rs. 11,714 crore for the corresponding period of the immediately preceding Financial Year, showing a growth of approximately 146%.This comprises Corporation Tax(CIT) at Rs. 18,358crore and Personal Income Tax (PIT) at Rs. 10,422 crore. This amount is expected to increase as further information is received from Banks.
Refunds amounting to Rs. 30,731crore have also been issued in the F.Y. 2021-22.
(Surabhi Ahluwalia)
Commissioner of Income Tax
(Media & Technical Policy)
Official Spokesperson, CBDT
ITAT upholds the addition of unexplained cash found during search u/s 69A; Holds that undisclosed income not covered by Rs.2.5 Lac exemption limit prescribed during demonetisation period; No inference can be drawn from the policy statement for extending exemption; Explanation not substantiated by evidence not sufficient for the purpose of Sec. 69A.