The government is set to fast track the process of updating and finalising accounts of public sector units in order to get a correct picture of their financial health before it decides a roadmap for them. The department of public enterprises is considering a proposal to reduce the period of audit pendency for public sector undertakings (PSUs) to seven years, before their accounts are taken up for an finalisation.
Post the finance ministry’s move to include eight new services such as domestic air travel and health under the ambit of service tax from 1 July, the revenue department has clarified that payments made before that date for services yet to be delivered would be exempted from the tax.
The new Citizens’ Charter will be a guiding rule book for the I-T department and its officials.Taxpayers whose premises have been searched or raided by the Income Tax (I-T) department can now expect to get possession of their sealed properties and assets in two months as compared to the usual duration of over a year.
The new companies Bill, pending approval of the Parliamentary standing committee, is expected to be tabled in Parliament by this year-end, corporate affairs secretary R Bandyopadhyay said here today. “The committee will submit its report soon. The corporate affairs ministry will take some time (two-three months to study it) and we are hopeful that we will have a new Act by the year-end,” Bandyopadhyay told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan received a setback on Friday when a petition filed by him under the Income Tax Act, 1961, was dismissed by the Bombay high court. A division bench of justices DY Chandrachud and JP Devadhar dismissed Khan’s petition challenging an order passed by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) for alleged tax evasion of Rs. 9 lakh.
Exclusive Benches will be set up in all High Courts to deal with commerce matters, Union Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily said on Saturday. The Bill on setting up commerce Benches was already passed by the Lok Sabha. It would now have to be passed by the Rajya Sabha. Once Parliament adopted the measure, courts would be set up to fast-track trade and commerce cases.
If one wishes to use the service of a TRP for filing I-T returns one can use the helpline started for the purpose. The tax return preparers (TRPs), who were brought in by the Income Tax (I-T) department about two years back to help tax payers file their I-T returns, can be contacted through a helpline — 1800 102 3738. This is a new helpline started by the department.
