tax collections

Only 6.74 lakh claims for refund of income-tax are pending with the I-T Department after it launched a special drive to clear the pendencies, Parliament was informed today. Responding to a query in the Lok Sabha, the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, said while the department does not maintain records on the quantum of income-tax refunds claimed, as of March 31, 2011, approximately 38.26 lakh returns claiming refund were pending for processing. Full Article

Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that the growth in GDP at market prices at 9.7 per cent for 2010-11 reflects buoyancy in our tax collections. Shri Mukherjee was reacting to the Advance Estimates of National Income for 2010-11 releas Full Article

The Income Tax department is giving special attention to tax deducted at source (TDS) as it aims to turn in the highest ever collection from the segment this financial year. During the last five years, the contribution from TDS had gone up from 33 per cent to 38.5 per cent of the net direct tax collection with an annual average growth of around 25 per cent. Full Article

Income Tax authorities are planning to broaden the tax base, seek greater exchange of information under the tax treaties and provide better services to tax payers by 2020 when the direct tax reforms would be firmly in place. The apex direct tax body, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), has formed seven committees comprising senior revenue officials to come out with a draft Vision 2020 document that would delineate ways to increase tax collections in a non-intrusive man.. Full Article

This seems to be the message of the I-T department, which has undertaken a sensitisation drive to make the DDOs aware of their responsibilities. As part of this, the I-T's TDS wing organised a seminar on Friday for officers of nationalised banks' branches, except those of the State Bank of India, in Patna in which about 90 bankers took part. Full Article

The investigation wing of the income tax (I-T) department in Mumbai has unearthed a record Rs1,315 crore in undisclosed income in the first nine months of the fiscal year, I-T officials said. The cases involve 16 companies, including 10 that are publicly traded. “Our searches have significantly improved collection of corporate taxes in Mumbai. More and more firms are voluntarily disclosing their income and paying up tax,” an income-tax official told on Friday. Full Article

In the run-up to Budget 2010-11, the Finance Ministry is mulling a reduction in the number of personal income tax rates from the current three to two. At present, there are three rates - 10, 20 and 30 per cent - and these are applied on slabs that are specified from year to year as part of the Budget. Full Article

The government’s tax collections could take a Rs 10,000-crore hit this year due to the setting up of the income-tax dispute resolution panel (DRP) for settling transfer pricing disputes. Such a dispute arises when there is a disagreement between the government and the taxpayer, especially a foreign company, in determining the tax liability of its subsidiary. Full Article