The Central Board of Direct Taxes has notified amendments to the Industrial Park Scheme 2008 under sub-section (4) of section 80IA of the Income Tax Act, 1961 on 2nd July 2008. According to the amended scheme, the ambit of “industrial activity” has been expanded to include (i) research and experimental development on natural sciences and engineering as defined in section K, division 73, group 731 of the National Industrial Classification, 2004 Code, issued by the Central Statistical Organisation, Department of Statistics; (ii) development of computer software; and (iii) information technology enabled services as notified vide notification number S.O.. 890(E), dated the 26th September 2000 for the purposes of sections 10A, 10B and 80HHE of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes has decided to relax norms on scrutiny of tax payers whose premises have been surveyed by the officials, a step aimed at encouraging evaders to pay up. The decision is likely to provide relief to thousands of taxpayers and it would save them from harassment at the hands of taxmen apart from litigation costs, said a senior Finance Ministry official. The decision has been taken following Finance Minister P Chidambaram’ s assertion that government wanted to send a message that those who comply with the tax laws would not be harassed by the tax officials.
Sick industrial units may no longer have to wait for decades for the authorities to decide whether they should be revived or liquidated. To fast-track the determination of industrial sickness of enterprises, the government is planning to expand the scope of the Company Law Board (CLB) to assess whether a sick unit should be liquidated or revived. At present, this procedure is carried out by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), which would be wound up. The corporate affairs ministry is working on a proposal to vest CLB with this authority.
NEW SCRUTINY NORMS FOR FINANCIAL YEAR 2007-08 – In super cession of earlier instructions on the above subject the Board hereby lays down the following procedure for selection of returns / cases of Non-Corporate Assessees for scrutiny during the current financial year i.e. 2007-08.
Appointment of branch statutory auditors of Public Sector Banks – Chartered Accountants from North Eastern Region. RBI has decided to relax the eligibility norm in respect of professional standing of individual auditors/proprietar y audit firms from the North-Eastern Region (viz. the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura) by reducing the period from 3 years to 1 year from the year 2008-09 and onwards.
Provided that in case of multiple track or multiple line packing machine which are incapable of performing such additional processes, each such track or line shall be deemed to be one individual packing machine for the purposes of calculation of the duty liability.
In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1B) of section 129A of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), the Board hereby makes the following further amendments in the Notification of Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, No. 39/2005-Customs ( N.T.), dated the 13th May, 2005, namely.
The matter has been examined in this Directorate in the aforesaid background and it has been decided that the restrictions imposed vide Public Notice No. 52 dated 27.9.2007 shall be made effective for exports on or after 27.9.07. Regional Authorities (RAs) shall process and dispose off all such pending cases accordingly.
“Provided that in case of multiple track or multiple line packing machine which are incapable of performing such additional processes, one such track or line shall be deemed to be one individual packing machine for the purposes of calculation of the number of pouches per operating packing machine per month.
Circular No. 5 of 2008-Income Tax The Central Board of Direct Taxes, vide notification S.O. No. 493(E), dated 13.3.2008 have notified the categories of taxpayers who are mandatorily required to electronically pay taxes on or after the 1st day of April, 2008.
