Budget 2017-Scope of section 92BA of the Income-tax Act relating to Specified Domestic Transactions
The existing provisions of section 92BA of the Act, inter-alia provide that any expenditure in respect of which payment has been made by the assessee to certain “specified persons” under section 40A(2)(b) are covered within the ambit of specified domestic transactions.
As a matter of compliance and reporting, taxpayers need to obtain the chartered accountant’s certificate in Form 3CEB providing the details such as list of related parties, nature and value of specified domestic transactions (SDTs), method used to determine the arm’s length price for SDTs, positions taken with regard to certain transactions not considered as SDTs, etc. This has considerably increased the compliance burden of the taxpayers.
In order to reduce the compliance burden of taxpayers, it is proposed to provide that expenditure in respect of which payment has been made by the assessee to a person referred to in under section 40A(2)(b) are to be excluded from the scope of section 92BA of the Act. Accordingly, it is also proposed to make a consequential amendment in section 40(A)(2)(b) of the Act.
These amendments will take effect from 1st April, 2017 and will, accordingly, apply in relation to the assessment year 2017- 18 and subsequent years.
[Clauses 15 & 41]
Extract of relevant clause from Finance Bill, 2017
Amendment of section 40A.
15. In section 40A of the Income-tax Act,—
(a) in sub-section (2), in clause (a), in the proviso, after the words “Provided that”, the words, figures and letters “for an assessment year commencing on or before the 1st day of April, 2016” shall be inserted;
(b) with effect from the 1st day of April, 2018,—
(A) in sub-section (3), for the words “exceeds twenty thousand rupees”, the words “or use of electronic clearing system through a bank account, exceeds ten thousand rupees,” shall be substituted;
(B) in sub-section (3A),—
(i) after the words “account payee bank draft,”, the words “or use of electronic clearing system through a bank account” shall be inserted;
(ii) for the words “twenty thousand rupees”, the words “ten thousand rupees” shall be substituted;
(iii) in the first proviso, for the words “exceeds twenty thousand rupees”, the words “or use of electronic clearing system through a bank account, exceeds ten thousand rupees,” shall be substituted;
(iv) in the second proviso, for the words “twenty thousand rupees”, the words “ten thousand rupees” shall be substituted;
(C) in sub-section (4),—
(i) after the words “account payee bank draft”, the words “or use of electronic clearing system through a bank account” shall be inserted;
(ii) after the words “such cheque or draft”, the words “or electronic clearing system” shall be inserted.
Amendment of section 92BA.
41. In section 92BA of the Income-tax Act, clause (i) shall be omitted.
