Tax deducted at source (TDS) has become a problematic issue with the income tax department as in more than 50% TDS refund cases it is facing an uphill task in matching the data provided in the assessee’s income tax returns with the TDS deductor’s information available with the NSDL.
And the mismatch is resulting in the assessee running from pillar to post to get back the refund due to him from the department.
“It’s a pan-India problem; the government wants the system should be fully computerized so that things are streamlined,” said Jamshedpur commissariat DCIT (TDS) S M S Tauheed recently.
According to outgoing commissioner of income-tax (CIT) K Sarkar, who has been transferred to Ahmedabad, said the department is faced with mismatch of TDS data in around 50% of cases.
Asked about the number of TDS refund mismatch cases pertaining to 2008-09 which had so far come to light in the Jamshedpur commissariat the DCIT (TDS) said it was more than 3,000.
The Jamshedpur commissariat has a income tax payers’ base of around 1.35 lakh.
To combat the mismatch factor better, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has, like last year, come up with amendments in TDS rules even this year with effect from April 1, 2010, while NSDL too has introduced procedures for correcting TDS detail at a later stage, so that the assessee got back his TDS refund early.
Citing a case where a TDS certificate for Rs 18 lakh related to a local company’s managing director had flaws in it resulting in mismatch, Sarkar said the onus of issuing an error-free TDS certificate should in every case be on the TDS deductor for whose negligence the assessee has often been seen to suffer by way of not receiving the refund from the department.
According to Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce & Industry general secretary Suresh Sonthalia, a sizeable number of TDS refund cases were lying with the Jamshedpur income-tax commissariat and with the department sending out notices to the assessees for the previous year 2008-09 regarding the mismatch found, efforts were on to resolve the problems.
Really influential assesses are getting refunds easily with mismatch. Nowadays TDS Officers also scrutinise the cases and making additional demands. It becomes highly impossible to cinfirm the deduction without reflection in the deductees AS26. On the other hand few officers compell TDS once again OR to file revised TDS Return so that the mismatching is rectified.Filing of Revised Return for TDS makes the thing worser since the Original Return details have to be cancelled and we have to make a fresh return as revised. Another factor is TDS Offices give tortures only to Salaried Class comparing the other cases. The Department shall take a lenient view on mismatch , in particular , in the case of Non Corporate Deductors who hail from semi urban /rural areas. In fact they are the scapgoats of the data entry staff of facilitation centers
R Swaminathan – Dindigul
Nishi is not correct. Out of turn refund cases of present and old officers or influential cases are done. But these are done manually, so that the tax payers concerned get their refunds immediately. This is very common and this does not hamper chronological processing by computers. Even the rly. computer system issues several tickets with identical seat and birth mo.s by the same train, or falsely displays all tickets on particular routes “sold out” and all births “reserved”, but there will be hundreds of births going vacant. Same happens in IT dept.
One of the reasons for the delayed refunds is that many influential tax payers either through money power or official power want to get refunds OUT OF TURN-this jams the system. There was one ex Chairman of CBDT who wants and gets his refund on 1st April every year. Almost all top serving and retired IT officers do it. The result is the sufferings for ordinary millions of tax payers.
This problem is very serious one, where deductees are receiving notices for default committed by deductors. Department should suggest some amicable solution regarding, who will be responsible for future disputes arising out of TDS-mismatch in NSDL data. Possible solutions :
1.Deductees should properly commmunicate their PAN to deductors. Communication should strictly by delivering a hard copy or thru mail. Any other means will distort the data, such that a change in single character will be fault.
2.Deductors should essentialy ask for a hard copy of PAN Card.
3.All hard copies received should be properly documented.
4.Dedcutee and deductor should both exchange the receipt and delivery of these data. Better to give a two copies of PAN card with name & address of company and get signed by deductor and deductee.
TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM IN MY OPINION THE HON’BLE FINANCE MINISTER IS REQUESTED TO DEDICATE THIS JOB TO SOME PROFESSIONAL AGENCY FIRM -THROUGH WHOM THE ASSESSEE WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE TO DEPOSIT THE TDS AMOUNT AS WELL AS THE ASSESSEE WOULD FILE QUARTERLY RETURN OF TDS SO THAT THE SAID AGENCY FIRM WOULD BE SOLE RESPONSIBLE TO EXPLAIN THE MINISTRY THE ENTIRE EPISODE ON COMPLETION OF THE FINANCIAL YEAR- AND THEREAFTER THE I.TAX DEPT.AFTER GETTING A FULL REPORT OF ALL THE RETURNS COULD EASILY TRACE OUT /MATCH ALL THE CASES .
IF SUFFICIENT FEES IS PROVIDED TO THE SAID AGENCY FIRM !
this is the mistake of the NSDL/tax deductor who did not filed the proper TDS return, for this why should dedctee sufer this , if deductee filed the original TDS certificate than department should check the same on NSDL, and allow the refund in time . other wise the burden of interest will be on GOvt…..
It is very serious problem.Some bank itself has not submitted the TDS return or if submitted they have not correctly stated PAN number of the deductee.In view of the said situation,the department is not issuing refund and instead of issue of refund,demand of tax is raised,as TDS credit is not given.
the problem is with deductors. for example SBI does not send the TDS individually in the name of the customers with their PAN but as a consolidated amount. Naturally there is no corresponding entry in NSDL. This is the deficiency of the Bank higher authorities. Income tax office should send strict orders to the Head offices of the banks and defaulting banks should be punished.(how I do not know). I have written to the head office of the bank but the bank HOs behave worse than the government departments.
TDS mismatch ocurs even small town , where both deductors & deductees exist.The main problems in TDS e returns are : 1) Delay in filing the data by the outsourcing agents, 2) The wrong entry of PAN Nos, Assessees name in the Annexures resulting in mismatches,3) The apathetic attitude of the facilitation center in conceding to the requests of the deductors and 4)The unqualified data entry staff employed by Facilitation centers for the data entry.
Above all , almost all the Banks do not take this point seriously and key the entries with care.
this is goods information for employee & deductor because all deductor is not have goods knowledge about tds return and they give more then 300 rupees for to preparation of tds return and they donot know that how many pan no is correct which send by ddo in tds return because all employee have not pan card and corrct pan no
good for assesee because the assesee is not responsible for tds return.
I am facing the same problem for TDS not matching with the 16A
I M LIC Agent. LIC has been deducte TDS from my commission under section 194D. while Tin-nsdl shows under section 194B which is “Income from winning lotary, crossword or puzzel”. Therefore i m not able to get full refund. what should i do for that?
kaushik
We request you to provide us the details of such a Notification or Circular issued by the Department to process the returns based on the TDS certificates submitted by the Assesses, where ever the mismatch in TDS exits between the ROI filed and the TDS information available with NSDL.
Regards
V. SHEKAR REDDY
The problem of mismatch can be reduced if the exemption limits for TD of interest paid by banks and others as well as limits under the head commission paid, prof. fess paid etc are revised upwords properly keeping in view the inflationary trend in the economy.
Also simple software should be devised to enable the uploading of data by the assessees at all levels.