Analysis and Comparison of the Union Budget 2017

This article explains proposed amendment made by Union Budget 2017 in Income Tax, Services Tax and Excise Duty and also compares the amendment with provision before the amendment.

INCOME TAX

Income Tax Rates for Financial Year 2017-18

Slab Rate for Individual, association of person, body of individuals, artificial juridical person for the Assessment Years 2017-18.

Rates for individuals less than 60 years of age:

Income:-	Tax Rate:-
Upto Rs.2,50,000	Nil
Rs.250001 to Rs.500000	5 %
Rs 5,00,001 to Rs 10,00,000	20 %
Above Rs. 10,00,0000	30%

Rates for individuals more than 60 years of age but less than 80 years of age:

Income:-	Tax Rate:-
Upto Rs.3,00,000	Nil
Rs.3,00,001 to Rs.5,00,001	5 %
Rs 5,00,001 to Rs 10,00,000	20 %
Above Rs. 10,00,0000	30%

Rates for individuals more than or equal to 80 years of age:

Income:-	Tax Rate:-
Upto Rs.5,00,000	Nil
Rs.5,00,001 to Rs.10,00,000	20%
Above Rs. 10,00,0000	30%

General Notes:

Age –The age shall be seen at any time during the previous year.

Individual- It includes both male and female gender that is there is no difference in slab rates for men and women.

Surcharge:

Income:-	Amount of Surcharge to be levied:-
Upto Rs.50,00,000	Nil
Rs.50, 00,001-Rs 1,00,00,000	10% of the amount of income tax
Above Rs. 1,00,00,000	15% of the amount of income tax

General Notes:

1-In case the total amount payable as income- tax and surcharge on total income exceeding fifty lakh rupees but not exceeding one crore rupees the total amount payable as income -tax and surcharge on such income shall not exceed the total amount payable as income- tax on a total income of fifty lakhs rupees by more than the amount of income that exc3eeds fifty lakh rupees.

2- In case the total amount payable as income- tax and surcharge on total income exceeding one crore rupees the total amount payable as income -tax and surcharge on such income shall not exceed the total amount payable as income- tax on a total income of one crore rupees by more than the amount that exceeds one crore rupees.

B .Cooperative Societies: Same as those specified for F.Y 2016-17.

C. Firms: Same as those specified for F.Y 2016-17.

D. Companies:

In Case of Domestic Company-The rate of income tax shall be twenty five percent of the total income if the total turnover or gross receipts of the previous year i.e. 2015-16 does not exceed fifty crore rupees. In all other cases the rate of income tax shall be thirty percent of the total income.

Surcharge: Same as those specified for F.Y 2016-17 i .e seven percent in case the total income exceeds one crore but does not exceeds ten crore rupees, for income greater than ten crores surcharge at the rate of twelve percent shall be levied.

In Case of Company other than Domestic Company- Same as those specified for F.Y 2016-17.

Rationalisation of Rebate under Section 87A:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed (to be effective from 1st April 2018)
Amount of Rebate to resident individual.	Rs.5000	Rs.2500.
Criteria	Income does not exceed Rs.5, 00,000.	Income does not exceed Rs.3, 50,000.

Effective From: Assessment Year 2018-19.

Rationalisation of Deductions:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed (to be effective from 1st April 2018)
Deduction under section 80 CCD.	Salaried employee; 10% of salary in case of salaried employees. An additional 10% is allowed in respect of contribution made by employer. Self employed; 10% of total income in case of Others. An additional 10% is allowed in respect of contribution made by employer Not possible as person is self employed.	Salaried employee; 10% of salary in case of salaried employees. An additional 10% is allowed in respect of contribution made by employer. Self employed; 10% 20 % of total income in case of Others.
Deduction under section 80CCG.	Deduction for three consecutive assessment years is allowed upto Rs.25000 in listed equity shares or listed units of equity oriented fund subject to conditions.	No such deduction available.

Effective From: Assessment Year 2018-19.

SECTION 194-IB (New Insertion):

Deduction of Tax At Source in case of certain individual and HUF tax at source under section 194-IB to be inserted in the act to provide that Individual or H.U.F (other than those covered under section 44 AB of the act) responsible for paying to a resident any income by way of rent exceeding fifty thousand rupees for a month or part of month shall deduct an amount equal to five per cent as income tax thereon.

Analysis: Person deriving income by way of salary are not required to deduct TDS as they are not liable for Tax Audit , however they will also be liable to deduct TDS as per new provisions of 194-IB.

Effective Date: 1st June 2017.

Change in holding period in case of immovable property:

Amendment in section 2(42A) of the act so as to reduce the period of holding from the existing 36 months to 24 months in case of immovable property being land or building or both to qualify as Long term capital asset.

Effective From: Assessment Year 2018-19.

Amendment in Section 80-IBA:

The section provides for 100 % deduction in respect of the profits and gains derived from developing and building certain housing projects subject to specified conditions:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed (to be effective from 1st April 2018)
Measurement of size of residential unit.	Built up area.	Carpet area as per Real estate Regulation and development Act-2006.
Size of Residential Unit for places located within a distance of 25 Km from the municipal limit of Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata or Mumbai.	30 square meter.	30 square meter. The said restriction has been removed.
Period of completion.	3 Years.	5 Years.

Effective From: Assessment Year 2018-19.

Chargeability of capital gains in case of Joint Development agreements:

Capital gain arises on “transfer” of a capital asset.

“Transfer includes any arrangement or transactions were any rights are handed over even though the legal title has not been transferred.”

Particulars	Existing	Proposed (to be effective from 1st April 2017)
Chargeability	Possession of immovable property is handed over to the developer.	Certificate of completion for the whole or part of the project is issued by the competent authority.

General Notes:

1. The said provisions are applicable to individual and HUF only.

Shifting of Base Year from 1981 to 2001 for computation of Capital Gains:

Amendment in section 55 of the act to provide that the cost of acquisition of an asset acquired before 01.04.2001 shall be Fair Market Value as on 01.04.2001.

All cost of improvement prior to 01.04.2001 shall be ignored.

Effective From: Assessment Year 2018-19.

Expanding the scope of Long term Bonds under section 54 EC:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed (to be effective from 1st April 2018)
Bonds eligible for exemption:	Bonds of NHAI. Bonds of REC.	Bonds of NHAI. Bonds of REC. Any bond redeemable after 3 years + Notified by the Central Government shall also be eligible for exemption.

Effective From: Assessment Year 2018-19.

Notional income upto 1 Year not to be taxed in case House Property is held as Stock in trade:

Eligible Assesses: Real Estate Developers.

Eligible Asset: Building and Land appurtenant thereto held as stock in trade.

Which part of Notional Income not to be taxed?: Annual Value of the property or part of the property for the period upto one year from the end of financial year in which the certificate of completion of construction of the property obtained from the competent authority shall be taken to be NIL.

Effective From: Assessment Year 2018-19.

Carry Forward and set-off of MAT / AMT Credit:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed (to be effective from 1st April 2018)
Time Limit for carry forward and setoff of MAT Credit:	Carry forward allowed till 10th assessment year.	Carry forward allowed till 15th assessment year.

Effective From: Assessment Year 2018-19.

Restriction on Set-off of Loss from House Property:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed (to be effective from 1st April 2018)
House property income to be set o ff with house property Loss.	Allowed	Allowed
House property income to be set o ff with other heads of income.	Allowed	Allowed upto Rs.2,00,000
Carry forward of unabsorbed Loss	Allowed	Allowed

Effective From: Assessment Year 2018-19.

Cash Donations:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed (to be effective from 1st April 2018)
Cash Donation Limit:	Rs.10, 000.	Rs.10,000. Rs.2,000.

Effective From: Assessment Year 2018-19.

Capital Expenditure incurred in cash to be disallowed:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed (to be effective from 1st April 2018)
Allowable capital expenditure in cash:	No threshold limit thereby any amount of capital expenditure incurred in cash is allowed.	Upto Rs.10, 000 allowed. Above Rs.10, 000 disallowed.

Effective From: Assessment Year 2018-19.

Cash expense in excess of Rs.10,000 to be disallowed:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed (to be effective from 1st April 2018)
Allowable revenue expense in cash :	Rs.20,000	Rs.20,000. Rs 10,000.

Pending Clarification:-As per existing provision expenses upto Rs35, 000 in cash is allowed for transporters, Will this limit change? Or will it be rationalized with Rs.10, 000.

We would suggest our clients that all expenses above Rs.10, 000 are disallowed thereby to avoid undue litigation avoid paying more than Rs. 10,000 to even transporters in cash. (This is solely our view).

Effective From: Assessment Year 2018-19.

Presumptive Tax Rate under Sec 44AD to be changed:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed (to be effective from 1st April 2017)
Tax rate : In case amount received through cash.	8%	8%
In case amount received through account payee cheque, draft, electronic means.	8%	8% 6%

Effective From: Assessment Year 2017-18.

Restriction on Cash transactions: Insertion of section 269ST:

Eligible Assesses: Any Person.

Eligible Transactions: Were amount received is Rs.3, 00,000 or more

a) In aggregate from a person in a day.

b) In respect of a single transaction.

c) In respect of transactions relating to one event or occasion from a person.

Assesses Excluded:

a) Government.

b) Banking Company.

c) Post office.

Consequences: Penalty under section 271 DA (to be inserted) to be levied which shall be equal to the amount received.

Effective From: Assessment Year 2017-18.

Analysis from our end:

If amount is received for (“n”) number of transactions is greater than Rs.3,00,000 from a person though the value of individual transactions is less than Rs.3,00,000.Penalty will be levied.

If we receive part payment in breakup of less than Rs. 3, 00,000 though the transaction amount is more than Rs.3, 00,000. Penalty will be levied.

“In respect of transactions relating to one event or occasion from a person”-e.g. in case of hospitals wherein bills can be easily split if the patient is admitted for (“n”) number of days on a per day basis and paid on a per day basis. Penalty will be levied

The Governments intention is apt to restrict transaction in cash.

Form 15G/H made applicable for insurance commission:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed (to be effective from 1st June 2017)
Payment of insurance commission upto Rs.15, 000.	No TDS.	No TDS.
Payment of insurance commission greater than Rs.15,000	T.D.S @ 5%.	No T.D.S if 15G/H is submitted.

Effective Date: 1st June 2017.

Increasing the threshold for maintenance of books of accounts in case of individual and H.U.F:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed (to be effective from 1st April 2018)
Income below which books of account need not be maintained.	Rs.1,25,000	Rs. 2,50,000
Sales or Gross Receipts:	Rs.10,00,000	Rs 25,00,000

Effective From: Assessment Year 2018-19.

Lower TDS u/sec 194 J in case of business of call center:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed (to be effective from 1st June 2017)
Professional fees or consultancy fees excluding in the nature of business of operation of call center.	10%	10%
For the operation of call center.	10%	10% 2%

Effective Date: 1st June 2017.

Reduction in compliances in case of Domestic Transfer Pricing:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed (to be effective from 1st April 2017)
Various compliances under section 40 (A)(2b)	Applicable such as obtaining CA Certificate in FORM 3CEB.	No such requirement.

Effective From: Assessment Year 2017-18.

No Capital Gains Tax in case of conversion of preference share to equity Share:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed with effect from 1st April 2018.
Capital Gain whether short term or Long term in case of conversion of preference shares.	Capital Gain arises on the day the preference shares are converted to equity shares.	No Capital Gains on the date of transfer. Capital Gain to be levied on the date of sale of equity shares.

Effective From: Assessment Year 2018-19.

Processing of Return within the prescribed time and enable withholding of refund in certain cases:

Particulars	Assessment Year 2017-18*	Proposed with effect from 1st April 2017.
Compulsory processing of return before passing of Assessment Order.143(1D)	Yes, therefore if a case is routinely selected for Scrutiny Assessment, no refund was being issued.	The said section not to apply in genuine cases which are routinely selected for scrutiny assessment therefore refund will be issued for these cases.

* The said section was introduced in Finance Act 2016.

Advance tax in one installment extended to Professionals:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed with effect from 1st April 2017.
Assesses eligible for advance tax in one installment i.e. 15th of March.	Eligible assesses engaged in eligible business under section 44 AD.	Eligible assesses engaged in eligible business under section 44 AD. + The same scheme extended to professional claiming presumptive income under 44ADA.

Effective From: Assessment Year 2017-18.

Interest on Refund due to deduct or:

Where refund of any amount becomes due to the deductor such person shall be entitled to receive, in addition to the refund simple interest on such refund calculated at the rate of one half percent for every month or part of month comprised in the period from the date claim for refund is made in prescribed form.

Effective From:1st April 2017.

Amendment to the structure of Authority for Advance rulings:

It has been decided by the Government to merge the authority for Advance ruling of income tax, central excise, customs duty and Service Tax.

Effective From:1st April 2017.

Rationalisation of time limits for assessment, reassessment and recomputation and reducing the time for filing revised return:

Particulars	Existing	Assessment Year 2018-19.	Assessment Year 2019-20.
Time limit for making assessment order under section 143 or 144.	21 months from the end of relevant year Assessment year.	18 months from the end of relevant year Assessment year.	12 months from the end of relevant year Assessment year.
Time limit for making assessment, reassessment or recomputation under section 147.	Within 9 months from end of the financial year in which notice under section 148 was served.	Within 12 months from end of the financial year in which notice under section 148 was served.	Within 12 months from end of the financial year in which notice under section 148 was served.
An order of fresh assessment in pursuance of order under section 254, 263, or 264, setting aside or cancelling assessment	Within 9 months from end of the financial year in which order under section 254 is received by ‐ Principal Chief Commissioner or ‐ Chief Commissioner or ‐Principal Commissioner or Commissioner or, ‐ as the case may be an order under section 263/264 is passed by Principal Commissioner or Commissioner	Within 9 months from end of the financial year in which order under section 254 is received by ‐ Principal Chief Commissioner or ‐ Chief Commissioner or ‐ Principal Commissioner or Commissioner or, ‐ as the case may be an order under section 263/264 is passed by Principal Commissioner or Commissioner	Within 12 months from end of the financial year in which order under section 254 is received by ‐ Principal Chief Commissioner or ‐ Chief Commissioner or ‐ Principal Commissioner or Commissioner or, ‐ as the case may be an order under section 263/264 is passed by Principal Commissioner or Commissioner
Filing revised return	Within 1 year from the end of the relevant assessment year or before the completion of assessment, whichever is earlier	The return of Assessment year also freezes by end of Assessment year.	The return of Assessment year also freezes by end of Assessment year.

Time Limits for completion of Search Assessment:

Particulars	Existing	Search or Seizure conducted in F.Y 2018-19.	Search or Seizure conducted in F.Y 2019-20.
Time limit for making an assessment order.	21 months from the end of the financial year in which the last of the authorization for search was executed.	18 months from the end of the financial year in which the last of the authorization for search was executed.	12 months from the end of the financial year in which the last of the authorization for search was executed.

Reason to believe to conduct search not to be disclosed:

Explanation to subsection (1) and (1A) of section 132 and section 132 A to declare that the reason to believe or reason to suspect shall not be disclosed to any authority or the Appellate Tribunal.

Effective From: 1st April 1962 i.e. a retrospective change.

Change in conditions for claiming exemptions under Section 10(38):

Particulars	Existing	Proposed with effect from 1st April 2018.
Criteria for availing exemptions.	Sale of share is through STT.	Acquisition of share is chargeable to STT.

Effective From: Assessment Year 2018-19.

Fair Market Value to be full value consideration in case of Shares (other than quoted shares):

Particulars	Existing	Proposed with effect from 1st April 2018.
Consideration for transfer of share of a company less than F. M.V.	Amount is taxed as Income from other Sources.	FMV to be deemed as Sale price.

Effective From: Assessment Year 2018-19.

Widening of scope of Income from Other Sources:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed with effect from 1st April 2017.
Assesses covered under Section 56 2 (vii)	Individual, H.U.F, Firm or Company.	Any person thereby trusts will also now come under 56 2 (vii).

Effective From: Assessment Year 2017-18.

Disallowance extended to Income from other Sources:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed with effect from 1st April 2018.
Applicability of provisions of 40 (a) (is).	Disallowance only in case of PGBP Income.	Disallowance in case of both PGBP+IFOS. NB-PGBP: Profits and Gains of Business & Profession. IFOS: Income from Other Sources.

Effective From: Assessment Year 2018-19.

Restriction on Corpus Donations by exempt entities to other exempt entities:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed with effect from 1st April 2018.
Donation given by exempt entities with specific direction that it shall form part of Corpus	Donor Done Application of Income Not Considered as income	Donor Done Application of Income Not Considered as income

Effective From: Assessment Year 2018-19.

Fee for Delay in Filing of Return:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed with effect from 1st April 2018.
Consequences for delay in filling of Return.	Penalty of Rs.5000 under section 271F can be levied at the discretion of Income Tax Officer.	a)Fee of Rs.5000 shall be be payable if the return is furnished after the due date but before the 31st day of December of Assessment Year. B) A fee of Rs.10,000 in any other case. Penalty is waived off under section 271 F.

Note: In case total income doesnot exceed Rs.5,00,000 fee amount shall not exceed Rs.1000.

Effective From:Assessment Year 2018-19.

Penalty on Professionals for furnishing incorrect information in Statutory Report or Certificate:

Person Covered: Accountant, merchant banker, registered Valuer.

Criteria for levy of penalty: The above person furnishes incorrect information in a report or certificate under any provisions of the act or rules made there under.

Authority who will levy Penalty: Assessing officer or Commissioner Appeals.

Amount of penalty: Rs 10,000 for each report or certificate.

Effective From:1st April 2017.

Service Tax

Service provided by IIM:

Particulars	Existing	Proposed with effect from 2nd February 2017.
Services provided by Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) by way of two year full time residential Post Graduate Programmes (PGP) in Management for the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM), to which admissions are made on the basis of the Common Admission Test (CAT), conducted by IIM.	Applicable to residential programmes.	Applicable to residential programmes. + Applicable to Nonresidential programmes.

Research & Development Cess:

Research and Development (R & D) Cess Act, 1986 to be repealed. Consequently, exemption from service tax equivalent to the amount of R & D cess payable on the import of technology under the said Act under Notification No. 14/2012 ST dated 17.03.2012 would not be available with respect to a taxable service involving import of technology

Effective From :Date of enactment of finance bill.

Service Tax (Determination of Value) Rules, 2006:

In order to nullify the impact of ruling of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court in the case of Suresh Kumar Bansal v. UOI [2016] 70 taxmann.com 55 (Delhi), Rule 2A is proposed to be amended so as to exclude value of property in land or undivided share of land from the value of service portion in execution of works contract involving transfer of goods and land or undivided share of land, as the case may be. Further, the provisions of abatement relating to Construction Service have also been included in the said rule which are applicable as per the timeline of changes to abatement notification with respect to the said service.

Effective From :Date of enactment of finance bill.

Central Excise

Time Limit for Granting Remission of Duty:

Sub-rule (2) is proposed to be inserted in Rule 21 of Central Excise Rules, 2002 so as to provide for a time limit of three months for granting remission of duty under the said Rule 21 read with section 5 of Central Excise Act, 1944.

Nil Excise Duty:

Nil excise duty on waste and scrap of precious metals (7105 or 7112), strips, wires, sheets, plates and foils of silver (7106), articles of silver jewellery, other than those studded with diamond, ruby, emerald or sapphire (7113), silver coins of purity 99.9% above, bearing a brand name (7114) is being made subject to condition that no credit of input or input services or capital goods has been availed by the manufacturers of such goods.

Changes in Rate:

Particulars	Pre Budget	Post Budget
Commodity Old rate New rate Handmade paper rolled bidis (2403 19 29) INR 21 per thousand INR 28 per thousand	INR 21 per thousand	INR 28 per thousand
Machine made paper rolled bidis (24031929) INR 21 per thousand INR 78 per thousand	INR 21 per thousand	INR 78 per thousand
Catalyst (3815 90 00) and Resin (3909 40 90) used in the manufacture of cast components of Wind Operated Electricity Generator	12.5%	Nil*
Membrane Sheet and Tricot / Spacer used in the manufacture of Reverse Osmosis (RO) membrane for household type filters (3921 19 00)	12.5%	6%*
Solar tempered glass used in manufacture of specified solar products (Chapter70)	Nil	6%*/ 12.5%
Parts / raw materials used in manufacture of solar tempered glass for use in specified solar products	12.5%	6%*
Micro ATMs as per standards version 1.5.1, Fingerprint reader / scanner, Iris scanner, Miniaturised POS card reader from mPOS and parts and components of the above goods (Chapter 84 or 85)	Applicable duty	Nil*
All parts for use in the manufacture of LED lights or fixtures including LED lamps.	Applicable duty	6%*

* The proposed rate of Excise duty will be valid till 30 June 2017 subject to the conditions prescribed.

Cenvat Credit Rules 2004:-

Rule 10:-Transfer of Cenvat Credit:

Rule 10 of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 provides for transfer of CENVAT credit in different cases. In this regard, a new sub-rule (4) has been inserted so as to provide for a time limit of three months [further extendable by 6 months] for approval of requests regarding transfer of CENVAT credit on shifting, sale, merger, etc. of the factory. Explanation-I(e) to rule 6 of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 amended so as to exclude banks and financial institutions including non-banking financial companies engaged in providing services by way of extending deposits, loans or advances from its ambit.

Rule 6:-Common Input & Input Service:

Explanation-I (e) for the purpose of sub-rule (3) and (3A) of Rule 6 of Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 is being amended so as to exclude banks and financial institutions including non-banking financial companies engaged in providing services by way of extending deposits, loans or advances from its ambit. It has been provided in the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 that value for the purpose of reversal of common input tax credit on inputs and input services used in providing taxable services and exempted services, shall not include the value of service by way of extending deposits, loans or advances against consideration in the form of interest or discount.

Others:

Advance Ruling:

Particulars	Pre Budget	Post Budget
Fees for filing Application:	Rs.2500	Rs.10,000
Time Limit for passing order after receipt of Application	90 days	6 months

Settlement Commission:

Particulars	Pre Budget	Post Budget
Who can make application to Settlement Commission	Only Assesse	Person other than assesse + Assesse
Time Limit for passing order after receipt of Application	90 days	6 months

About our firm: R.Daga & Company Chartered Accountants is a medium sized CA Firm practicing into Accounts outsourcing, Audit & Assurance, Direct & Indirect Taxation and Management Consultancy services. We are one of the medium sized CA Firm with a stated policy of following holistic approach, giving complete visibility and best in class turnaround time to each client. This is achieved by bringing the technical and analytical skills to an assignment, which is developed through the academic background, adoption to latest technology, continuing professional education and engagement experience of our team. The firm also has tie – ups for the services of Chartered Accountants, Cost Accountants, Company Secretaries and Advocates as Consultants on assignment basis.

About our Team: Our team consists of three Partners FCA. Vishal Daga, ACA. Rinku Daga and ACA-Lokesh Bothra.

Contact Information: Regd Office: 73A Ganesh Chandra Avenue, 2nd Floor Unit 205 A, Kolkata-700013, Ph:033-40647761, Email:rdagaco@rdaga.com, Website:www.rdaga.com

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