Section 44ADA – Special provision for computing profits and gains of profession on presumptive basis – Issues and concerns arising there from to be addressed
The Finance Act, 2016 has inserted a new section 44ADA providing for special provision for computing profits and gains of profession on presumptive basis. This measure would definitely help the specified professionals in payment as well as compliances under the income-tax law.
a) Threshold limit of Rs 50 lakhs may be increased
Issue/Justification
The sub-section (1) provides that:
“Notwithstanding anything contained in sections 28 to 43C, in the case of an assessee, being a resident in India, who is engaged in a profession referred to in subsection (1) of section 44AA and whose total gross receipts do not exceed fifty lakh rupees in a previous year, a sum equal to fifty per cent. of the total gross receipts of the assessee in the previous year on account of such profession or, as the case may be, a sum higher than the aforesaid sum claimed to have been earned by the assessee, shall be deemed to be the profits and gains of such profession chargeable to tax under the head “Profits and gains of business or profession”.
The threshold limit of Rs 50 lakhs appears to be low. Consequently, this provision may not achieve the intended objective of providing relief to professionals in the small and medium segment. Even the Income Tax Simplification Committee headed by Justice R V Easwar recommended a threshold limit of Rs 1 crore. This appears to be a more justifiable limit considering the present economic conditions prevailing in the country.
Suggestion
It is suggested that the threshold limit of Rs 50 lakh may be raised appropriately so that a sizable percentage of professionals in the small and medium segment are covered under the said provisions; which would ultimately lead to the achievement of stated objective of introducing the new provision.
b) Rate of estimated tax @ 50% too high
Issue/Justification
The rate of 50% appears to be on the higher side and may cause very high tax incidence on such professionals particularly since the scheme is intended to cover professionals with low gross receipts/total turnover resulting in low margins due to nature of work and high competition. This high rate may cause a lot of professionals not to opt for this scheme thereby defeating the ultimate objective of introducing this provision.
Considering the above reasons, the profit @ 50% is difficult to achieve specially for intended professionals with low gross receipts/total turnover. Also, the Income Tax Simplification Committee headed by Justice R V Easwar has recommended the rate of 33.33% of the receipts as the income from profession.
Suggestion
It is suggested that the estimated rate of income @ 50% of the total gross receipts may be reduced appropriately considering the high cost of providing the services by specified professionals specially the small tax payers having income from profession.
