New Delhi [India], September 18 (ANI): Net direct tax collections so far this financial year are at Rs 700,669 crore, an increase of 23 per cent as compared to Rs 568,147 crore till the same period of the corresponding financial year, a Central Board of Direct Taxes statement said on Sunday. The total includes corporation tax of Rs 368,484 crore and personal income tax (including securities transaction tax) worth Rs 330,490 crore.
Direct tax collections continue to grow at a robust pace, a clear indicator of the revival of economic activity post-pandemic, as also the result of the stable policies focusing on simplification and streamlining of processes and plugging of tax leakage through effective use of technology. The gross collection of direct taxes (before adjusting for refunds) so far stands at Rs 836,225 crore, as compared to Rs 642,287 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding financial year, registering a growth of 30 per cent.
The gross collection includes corporation tax at Rs 436,020 crore and personal income tax (PIT) including securities transaction tax(STT) at Rs 398,440 crore. “The cumulative advance tax collections for the first and second quarter of the FY 2022-23 stand at Rs 295,308 crore as on 17.09.2022, against advance tax collections of Rs 252,077 crore for the corresponding period of the immediately preceding Financial Year i.e FY 2021-22, showing a growth of 17 per cent. The advance tax collection of Rs 295,308 crore comprises corporation tax (CIT) at Rs 229,132 crore and personal income tax (PIT) at Rs 66,176 crore,” the CBDT statement said.
Notably, the speed of processing of income tax returns too rose this fiscal. Almost 93 per cent of the duly verified ITRs filed this year have been processed till Saturday, it said. “This has resulted in the faster issue of refunds with almost a 468 per cent increase in the number of refunds issued in the current financial year,” it added.
Subsequently, refunds amounting to Rs 135,556 crore have been issued so far against refunds of Rs 74,140 crore being issued during the corresponding period in the preceding financial year 2021-22, showing a growth of around 83 per cent. (ANI)
CBDT issues norms for compounding of offences under I-T Act
New Delhi [India], September 17 (ANI): The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued revised guidelines with regards to the compounding of offences under the Income Tax Act, 1961, in conformity with the government’s policy of facilitating Ease of Doing Business and decriminalisation of offences.
The CBDT issued the guidelines dated September 16 with reference to various offences covered under the prosecution provisions of the Act, according to an official statement released by the Ministry of Finance on Saturday.
Some of the major changes made for the benefit of taxpayers include making offences punishable under Section 276 of the Act as compoundable.
Further, the scope of eligibility for compounding of cases has been relaxed whereby the case of an applicant who has been convicted with imprisonment for less than two years being previously non-compoundable, has now been made compoundable.
The discretion available with the competent authority has also been suitably restricted. The time limit for acceptance of compounding applications has been relaxed from the earlier limit of 24 months to 36 months now, from the date of filing of the complaint. Procedural complexities have also been reduced/simplified.
Specific upper limits have been introduced for the compounding fee covering defaults across several provisions of the Act. Additional compounding charges in the nature of penal interest @ 2 per cent per month up to 3 months and 3 per cent per month beyond 3 months have been reduced to 1 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively. (ANI)
