Thursday, September 22, 2011

ICAI Invites Suggestions for Pre-Budget Memorandum-2012

The Central Direct & Indirect Taxes Committees are in the process of identifying issues that need to be taken up in the Pre-Budget Memoranda on Direct & Indirect Taxes – 2012 to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance.

Suggestions are invited on laws relating to Direct Tax, Central Excise Duty, Customs Duty and Service Tax for the purpose of inclusion in the Pre-Budget Memoranda – 2012.
Suggestions relating to Direct Taxesto be given under the following head:
◦Suggestions for widening the tax base and increasing the tax revenue
◦Suggestions to check tax avoidance
◦Suggestions for rationalization of the provisions of Direct Tax Laws
Suggestions in respect of Indirect Taxes to cover Central Excise Law and Rules, Customs Laws and Rules, Service Tax Law and Rules.
The suggestions relating to policy matters and procedural matters be mentioned separately and for each of the issue, following details be given in the format specified below:
◦Issue – brief description of the issue with relevant provisions of law
◦Suggestion – specific suggestion to deal with the issue
◦Rationale – the justification for the suggestion.
Suggestions may be sent at
prebudget@icai.org by 31st October, 2011.

EXPOSURE DRAFT on Revised Sch VI

EXPOSURE DRAFT  GUIDANCE NOTE TO
THE REVISED SCHEDULE VI
TO THE COMPANIES ACT, 1956 (file attached)
 
 
 

Monday, September 19, 2011

Correction in Challans Paid

Summary :

Earlier correction was not possible in challans  while making errors at the time of payment. Same is now possible from bank, but you should contact the bank within 7 days.


Challan Correction Mechanism

Under OLTAS (On Line Tax Accounting System), the physical challans of all Direct Tax payments received from the deductors / taxpayers are digitized on daily basis by the collecting banks and the data transmitted to TIN (Tax Information Network) through link cell. At present, the banks are permitted to correct data relating to three fields only i.e. amount, major head code and name. The other errors can be corrected only by the assessing officers.

New Procedure of challan correction by banks (for physical challans):

To remedy this situation, a new Challan Correction Mechanism for physical challans has been put in place. Under this mechanism, for income tax payments made on or after 1.9.2011, the following fields can be got corrected through the concerned bank branch:
_ Assessment Year
_ Major Head Code
_ Minor Head Code
_ TAN/PAN
_ Total Amount
_ Nature of payment (TDS Codes)

The time window for the correction request by tax payer is as follows :
S.No Correction required in Field name
Period of Correction Request (from Challan Deposit Date)
1 TAN/PAN 7 days
2 Assessment Year 7 days
3 Amount 7 days
4 Other fields (Major
head, Minor head,
Nature of payment)
Within 3 months
The time window for correction by the bank is 7 days from the date of receipt of Correction request from the tax-payer.

Conditions:
The changes can be made by the banks, subject to following conditions:
i. Correction in Name is not permitted.
ii. Any combination of correction of Minor Head and Assessment Year together is not allowed.
iii. PAN/TAN correction will be allowed only when the name in the challan matches with the name as per the new PAN/TAN.
iv. The change of amount will be permitted only on the condition that the amount so corrected is not different from the amount actually received by the bank and credited to Govt. Account.
v. For a single challan, correction is allowed only once. However, where 1st correction request is made only for amount, a 2nd correction request will be allowed for correction in other fields.
vi. There will be no partial acceptance of change correction request, i.e. either all the requested changes will be allowed, if they pass the validation, or no change will be allowed, if any one of the requested changes fails the validation test.

Procedure:
i. The tax-payer has to submit the request form for correction (in duplicate) to the concerned bank branch.
ii. The tax-payer has to attach copy of original challan counterfoil.
iii. In case of correction desired for challans in Form 280, 282, 283, the copy of PAN card is required to be attached.
iv. In case of correction desired for payments made by a tax-payer (other than an individual), the original authorization with seal of the non-individual taxpayer is required to be attached with the request form.
v. A separate request form is to be submitted for each challan.

Procedure of challan correction by Assessing Officers (both physical and e-payment challans)
After the window period available to banks for challan correction, the assessee can make a request for correction to his or her assessing officer, who is authorized under the departmental OLTAS application to make such correction in challan data in bonafide cases, to enable credit of the taxes paid, to the concerned assessee.

Format of application to bank for challan correction to be requested by the taxpayer
To
The Branch Manager,
--------------------------- (Address of Branch)
Taxpayer Details :
Taxpayer Name :
Taxpayer Address :
Taxpayer TAN/PAN :
Name of Authorized Signatory :
(in case of non-individual taxpayer)
Sub : Request for Correction in Challan No: 280/281/282/283 [Strike out which ever is not
applicable]
Sir/Madam,
I request you to make corrections in the challan data as per following details :
Challan Details:
BSR Code Challan Tender Date (Cash/Cheque Deposit Date) Challan Sl. No.
Sl. No. Fields in which correction required Please Tick Original Details Modified Details
1. TAN/PAN (10 digit)
2. Assessment Year (YYYY)
3. Major Head code (4 digit)
4. Minor Head code (3 digit)
5. Nature of Payment (3 digit)
6. Total Amount (13 digit)
Note: Please tick against the relevant fields where changes are required.
Tax payer/Authorized Signatory
Date
Note:
1. Attach copy of original challan counterfoil.
2. In case of correction to challan 280, 282, 283 attach copy of PAN card.
3. In case of a non-individual tax payer, attach the original authorization with seal of the
non-individual tax-payer.
4. The request form for correction is to be submitted in duplicate to the bank branch.
5. A separate request form is to be submitted for each challan.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

TIN, a repository of a nationwide Tax related information

About TIN
Introduction:


Tax Information Network (TIN), a repository of nationwide Tax related information, has been established by National Securities Depository Limited on behalf of Income Tax Department of India (ITD). TIN is an initiative by ITD for the modernisation of the current system for collection, processing, monitoring and accounting of direct taxes using information technology.
TIN system:




TIN has three key sub-systems:
  • Electronic Return Acceptance and Consolidation System (ERACS) which consists of an infrastructure for interface with the taxpayers (a nation wide network of TIN-Facilitation Centres i.e. TIN-FC) and a web-based utility for upload of electronic returns of Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) & Tax Collection at Source (TCS) and Annual Information Return (AIR) to the central system of TIN.
  • Online Tax Accounting System (OLTAS) for daily upload to the central system, the details of tax deposited in various tax collecting branches across the country.
  • Central PAN Ledger Generation System (CPLGS) which is the central system that consolidates for each PAN:
    1. details of tax deducted/collected on its behalf (TDS/TCS) which is obtained by matching the TDS/TCS returns submitted by the deductors/collectors with the tax deposit (challan) information from the banks;
    2. details of the tax deposited (advance tax/self assessment tax) directly by the taxpayer with the bank;
Services through TIN-FC:
Through its network of TIN-Facilitation centres all over the country, TIN offers the following services:
  • Acceptance of electronic and physical TDS/TCS Returns;
  • Processing of new PAN and PAN change request applications;
  • Processing of new TAN and TAN change request applications;
  • Acceptance of AIR;
  • Registration by a PAN holder for viewing its annual tax statement (Form 26AS);
  • Quarterly Statement Status - Deductors can access details of their statements including financial details through the TIN-FC who has uploaded their statements.
Online Services:
TIN provides the following Online Services through this website:
View Annual Tax Statement (Form 26AS)
  • Facility for a PAN holder to view the details of tax deducted/collected on its behalf and also tax paid by itself.
Quarterly Statement Status:
  • Facility for deductors to verify status of e-TDS/TCS statements submitted to TIN-FC or online at this website by providing TAN and respective provisional receipt number (PRN).
Besides this, a deductor can also check:
  • whether challans in statements have been matched with challans uploaded by banks;
  • number of deductees whose PAN accounts have been booked;
  • line number of deductees in statements whose PAN accounts could not be booked;
  • whether a specific PAN account has been booked.
Acceptance of returns/statements:
  • Facility to submit TDS/TCS statements and related correction statements through internet.
  • Facility to submit Annual Information Returns (AIR) and related supplementary returns through internet.
e-tax payment:
  • Facility to pay tax online, wherein the taxpayer can fill up and submit the challan through Internet. The tax payer has to necessarily have a bank account with net banking facility in any of the stipulated banks.
OLTAS Challan Status enquiry:
  • Facility for tax payers to enquire online about the status of challans deposited in banks.
PAN:
  • Facility to apply for PAN online;
  • Reprint of PAN card with existing/revised details;
  • Status enquiry.
TAN:
  • Facility to apply for TAN online;
  • Reprint of TAN allotment letter with existing/revised details;
  • Status enquiry.
e-RI:
  • Facility to register as an e-Return Intermediary (e-RI). (An e-RI is an entity authorised by ITD to electronically file income tax returns on behalf of tax payers.)
  • Status enquiry.

Friday, September 16, 2011

TAX DEDUCTED ON SOURCE ON TRAVEL AGENT

"whether tds should be deducted u/s 194C for payment made to travel agent for booking of airline tickets by a company for its employee(s)"?

The following general conditions should be satisfied for a payment to qualify for deduction of tax u/s 194C

1.Payee:The contract should be entered by the following specific person
  • Central government
  • state govt or Local authority
  • Cent or State Corp. covered estb. under Cent./state act
  • Any co-operative society
  • Any company
  • Any authority constituted In India under or b the law for town planning and other specific work as defined
  • any society
  • any Trust
  • any firm
  • any University with specific conditions
  • Societies register under the specific acts
  • any firm
  • any HUF?individual if turnover exceeding 40lacs or profession receipt exceeds 10lakh in immediate preceding year
  • from 01.06.2008 any AOP /BOI
2.payer
  • Resident contractor
  • payment to subcontractor by resident contractor
3.work
  • contract between payer and payee for "carrying out any work"
  • Including supply of labour for carrying out any work.
So in general three basic genral condition should be fulfilled to make a payment eligible for deduction of tax at source u/s 194C.if any one of three content/condition is missing ,then section 194C will not be applicable.
 
so where the contract is between contractor and Huf or individual for personal purpose it will not be covered under section 194C and tax will not be deductible.
 
In this case of payment to travel agent for booking of airline tickets ,the contract is between individual and airline company though payment is made by the company so tds is not deductible.
 
CBDT Clarificatary circulaor:

CBDT has issued a detailed circular no 715 on tds u/s 194C,194I and 194J dated 8.8.1995 ,In which 34 question has been dealt .In this circular question number 6 relates to payment made to travel agent/airline for booking of tickets ,It has been clarified in the circular that notwithstanding the payment has been made by the payee list mentioned as above ,but the contract of purchasing the ticket is between individual passenger and the airline/travel agent ,so tax should not be deducted.
 
the relevant part of the circular is reproduced here under for your ready reference
 
"Question 6 : Whether payment under a contract for carriage of goods or passengers by any mode of transport would include payment made to a travel agent for purchase of a ticket or payment made to a clearing and forwarding agent for carriage of goods ?
Answer : The payments made to a travel agent or an airline for purchase of a ticket for travel would not be subjected to tax deduction at source as the privity of the contract is between the individual passenger and the airline/travel agent, notwithstanding the fact that the payment is made by an entity mentioned in section 194C(1). The provision of section 194C shall, however, apply when a plane or a bus or any other mode of transport is chartered by one of the entities mentioned in section 194C of the Act. As regards payments made to clearing and forwarding agent for carriage of goods, the same shall be subjected to tax deduction at source under section 194C of the Act.

hence the No tax should be deducted u/s 194C on payment made to travel agent/airline for booking of tickets.This rule is also applicable on other transport medium like rail booking also.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

How to get FVU files offline required for revised E-TDS return

In this regard, you are requested to send the letter containing the following detail when requesting for consolidated FVU file offline:-

a)      Letter should be on companies letter head
b)     Letter should be signed by authorized signatory
c)      Name as well as the designation of authorized signatory should be mentioned in the letter
d)     TAN registration number (12 digit number)
e)      TAN of organization
f)       Token number of original statement only (15 digit number)
g)     Form No. and Quarter
h)     Financial Year
i)       Reason for not able to provide KYC


Aforesaid letter should be addressed to:
Senior Vice President,
TIN Operation II,
National Securities Depository Limited,
Times Tower 1st floor, Kamala Mills Compound,
S. B. Marg, Lower Parel (West)
Mumbai – 400013.

On the receipt of the letter and verifying the details, the requested files will be sent on email id provided at the time of TAN registration.

For any query related to the above, you may contact TIN Call centre at
 
      Tel: 91-20-2721 8080.
      Fax: 91-20-2721 8081.
      Email ID: tin_returns@nsdl.co.in.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

SECTION 80CCF OF THE INCOME-TAX ACT, 1961 – DEDUCTION – IN RESPECT OF SUBSCRIPTION TO LONG-TERM INFRASTRUCTURE BOND – NOTIFIED LONG-TERM INFRASTRUCTURE BOND

NOTIFICATION NO. 50/2011 [F.NO. 178/43/2011-SO(ITA.1)], DATED 9-9-2011
In exercise of the powers conferred by section 80CCF of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Government hereby specifies bonds, subject to the following conditions, as long-term infrastructure bonds for the purposes of the said section, namely:-
 (a)  Name of the bond – The name of the bond shall be “The Long Term Infrastructure Bond”
 (b)  Issuer of the Bond – The Long Term Infrastructure Bonds to be issued in the financial year 2011-12 shall be issued by -
   1.  The Industrial Finance Corporation of India, established under section 3 of the Industrial Finance Corporation Act, 1948 (15 of 1948);
   2.  The Life Insurance Corporation of India, established under section 3 of the Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956 (31 of 1956);
   3.  The Infrastructure Development Finance Company Limited, a company formed and registered under the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956);
   4.  The India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd.; a company formed and registered under the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956); and
   5.  A Non-Banking Finance Company classified as an Infrastructure Finance Company by the Reserve Bank of India.
 (c)  Limit on issuance – (i) The Bond will be issued during the financial year 2011-12; (ii) the volume of issuance during the financial year shall be restricted to twenty-five per cent of the incremental infrastructure investments made by the issuer during the financial year 2010-11; (iii)’investments’ for the purposes of this limit shall include loans, bonds, other forms of debt, quasi-equity, preference equity and equity.
 (d)  Tenure of the bond – (i) The tenure of the Bond shall be for a minimum period of ten years; (ii) the minimum lock-in period for an investor shall be five years; (iii) after the lock-in period the investor may exit either through the secondary market or through a buyback facility, specified by the issuer in the issue documents at the time of issue; (iv) the bond shall also be allowed as pledge or lien or hypothecation for obtaining loans from Scheduled Commercial Banks, after the said lock-in-period.
 (e)  Permanent Account Number (PAN) to be furnished:- It shall be mandatory for the subscribers to furnish their PAN to the issuer;
 (f)  Yield of the bond:- The yield of the bond shall not exceed the yield on Government securities of corresponding residual maturity as reported by the Fixed Income Money Market and Derivatives Association of India (FIMMDA), as on the last working day of the month immediately preceding the month of the issue of the bond;
 (g)  End-use of proceeds and reporting or monitoring mechanism – (i) The proceeds of the Bond shall be utilized towards ‘infrastructure lending’ as defined by the Reserve Bank of India in the Guidelines issued by it;
  (i)  the end-use shall be duly reported in the Annual Reports and other reports submitted by the issuer to the Regulatory Authority concerned, and specifically certified by the Statutory Auditor of the issuer;
 (ii)  the issuer shall also file these along with term sheets to the Infrastructure Division, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance within three months from the end of financial year

Complete Update For E TDS return

Procedure for filing e-TDS/TCS Returns with Insufficient Deductee PAN

How do I file my quarterly e-TDS/TCS return, if I don’t have PANs of all deductees?
You can file your e-TDS/TCS return for the deductees who have valid PANs and subsequently file correction return for remaining deductees whose PANs were not available with you while furnishing regular return.
How do I include deductees whose details were not provided earlier due to unavailability of PAN?
You are required to file a correction return in a prescribed file format available at www.tin-nsdl.com
What amount should be mentioned in the challan details in case a regular return is filed only for those deductees whose PAN is present and subsequently a correction is filed with the remaining deductees?
The amount deposited vide that particular challan should be mentioned in the original as well as correction return. Refer below example:
  • Suppose a challan payment of Rs.1,00,000/- has been made for non-salary TDS against 100 deductees each with TDS of Rs.1,000/-. Under the existing procedure the deductor will have to quote at least 85 PAN failing which his return will be rejected.
  • If there are only 50 deductees whose PAN is available and the deductor attempts to file a return with details of 100 deductees with PAN of only 50 deductees, the return will automatically be rejected at present.
  • However, if he files a return with challan amount of Rs. 1,00,000/- and with details of 50 deductees with PAN, with deductee total of Rs.50,000/-, the return will be accepted. It means the deductor can furnish the details relating to such deductees whose PANs are available.
  • The deductor can later file correction returns with other details of remaining deductees with the same challan details, i.e., the challan amount should be the amount deposited (in this case Rs. 1,00,000/-).
  • The return will be accepted so long as the TDS total of incremental deductees is less than or equal to the balance of Rs.50,000/-.

e-TDS Return – Preparation of Correction Statement More than Once on the Same Regular Statement (Correction on Correction)

-How many times can I furnish a correction TDS/TCS statement?
A correction TDS/TCS statement can be furnished multiple times to incorporate changes in the regular TDS/TCS statement whereas a regular TDS/TCS statement will be accepted at the TIN central system only once.
What are the important points to be kept in mind while preparing correction statement more than once on the same regular statement?
You have to kept in mind, the following points while preparing correction statement more than once on the same regular statement:
1. The TDS/TCS statement on which correction is to be prepared should be updated with details as per all previous corrections.
2. Modifications/addition/deletion in correction statements accepted at the TIN central system only should be considered.
The first correction filed by me contains three types of correction (three PRNs / Token Number) and one of the types of correction has got rejected at the TIN central system. What should I do?
The steps as under should be followed:
1. You have to update modifications as per the accepted corrections in the TDS statement.
2. Identify the record for which correction was rejected earlier by its sequence no. and fields for identification
3. Correct the said record.
4. Correction statement should contain updated values as well as value of identification field as per regular statement.
Which Provisional Receipt Number / Token Number should I quote while preparing correction statement more than once on the same regular statement?
There are two fields for Provisional Receipt Number (PRN) / Token Number in a correction statement as under:
a. Original Provisional Receipt Number / Token Number – PRN of the regular statement should be mentioned in this field.
b. Previous Provisional Receipt Number / Token Number – PRN of the last accepted correction statement should be mentioned in this field. In case the value in this field is incorrectly mentioned, the statement will get rejected at TIN central system for the reason: “Either Previous Provisional Receipt No. provided is incorrect or combination of Original Provisional Receipt Number / Token Number and Previous Provisional Receipt Number / Token Number is not in sequence”
Example:
Single batch correction statement – Only one type of correction in the file
a. You have filed a regular statement having PRN / Token Number 010010200083255 and subsequently filed a single batch correction statement having PRN / Token Number 010010300074112. While preparing correction statement, you have to mention PRN / Token Number 010010200083255 in the field original PRN and the PRN / Token Number 010010300074112 in the field Previous PRN.
Multiple batch correction statement – different types of correction in a single file
b. You have filed a regular statement having PRN / Token Number 010010200083255 and subsequently filed a multi batch correction statement having three batches and corresponding PRNs / Token Numbers as 010010300074112, 010010300074123 and 010010300074134. While preparing the correction statement, you have to mention PRN / Token Number 010010200083255 in the field original PRN and check the status of all the three PRNs of correction statement.
  • If all the three PRNs / Token Numbers are accepted at the TIN central system, you may mention any of the three PRNs / Token Numbers in the field previous PRN.
  • If any of the three PRNs / Token Numbers is rejected, then you should mention the PRN / Token Number which has been accepted at the TIN central system in the field Previous PRN.
  • If all the three PRNs / Token Numbers are rejected, then you must mention the PRN / Token Number of the regular statement, i.e. 010010200083255 in the field Previous PRN.
How many times can I update PAN of a deductee/transacting party?
Structurally valid PAN of a deductee in the regular statement can be updated to another structurally valid PAN only once.
When does a statement get ‘Partially Accepted’?
A correction statement containing updates in PAN of deductee/employee may get Partially Accepted. This is possible when the PAN in the any of the records being updated by you in the correction statement is invalid, i.e. PAN not present in PAN Master Database. In such a scenario, the said record gets rejected resulting in partial acceptance of the statement.
What should I do if the status of correction statement filed by me is ‘Partially accepted’?
In case correction statement is in status ‘Partially accepted’, you have follow steps as under:
1. You have to update modifications as per the accepted records in the TDS statement.
2. Identify the deductee/salary record which has got rejected due to invalid PAN.
3. Rectify the incorrect PAN
4. Correction statement should contain value of identification keys as per regular statement along with the updated values.
What could be the cause of rejection of TDS/TCS statement for the reason “Total Deposit amount of deductees is more than Challan amount actually deposited in bank”?
The total tax deposited amount as per challan should be greater than or equal to the total tax deposited amount as per deductee details, else a regular TDS/TCS statement will not get validated through FVU.
If you file a correction statement for adding deductee records under a particular challan, the total tax deposited as per challan in regular statement should be greater than or equal to the total tax deposited in deductee details as per regular as well as correction statement.
Note: Amount in the fields Interest and others in the challan is not considered in the total tax deposited as per challan.
Provisional Receipt Number is now referred as Token Number with effect from FY. 2010-11 onwards.


Who is required to file e-TDS/TCS return and what is annual e-TDS/TCS Return and Other FAQ

What is annual e-TDS/TCS Return?
Annual e-TDS/TCS return is the TDS return under section 206 of the Income Tax Act (prepared in Form Nos. 24, 26 or 27) or TCS return under section 206C of the Income Tax Act (prepared in Form No. 27E), which is prepared in electronic media as per prescribed data structure. Such returns furnished in a CD/Pen Drive should be accompanied by a signed verification in Form No. 27A in case of Annual TDS returns or Form No. 27B in case of Annual TCS return.
What is quarterly e-TDS/TCS statement?
TDS/TCS returns filed in electronic form as per section 200(3)/206C, as amended by Finance Act, 2005, are quarterly TDS/TCS statements. As per the Income Tax Act, these quarterly statements are required to be furnished from FY 2005-06 onwards. The forms used for quarterly e-TDS statements are Form Nos. 24Q, 26Q and 27Q and for quarterly e-TCS statement is Form No. 27EQ. These statements filed in CD/Pen Drive should be accompanied by a signed verification in Form No. 27A in case of both e-TDS/TCS statements.
Who is required to file e-TDS/TCS return?
As per Income Tax Act, 1961, all corporate and government deductors/collectors are compulsorily required to file their TDS/TCS returns on electronic media (i.e. e-TDS/TCS returns). However, deductors/collectors other than corporate/government can file either in physical or in electronic form.
e-TDS/TCS returns have been made mandatory for Government deductors. How do I know whether I am a Government deductor or not?
All Drawing and Disbursing Officers of Central and State Governments come under the category of Government deductors.
Under what provision should e-TDS/TCS returns be filed?
An e-TDS return should be filed under Section 206 of the Income Tax Act in accordance with the scheme dated August 26, 2003 for electronic filing of TDS return notified by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) for this purpose. CBDT Circular No. 8 dated September 19, 2003 may also be referred.
An e-TCS return should be filed under Section 206C of the Income Tax Act in accordance with the scheme dated March 30, 2005 for electronic filing of TCS return notified by the CBDT for this purpose.
As per section 200(3)/206C, as amended by Finance Act 2005, deductors/collectors are required to file quarterly TDS/TCS statements from FY 2005-06 onwards.
Who is the e-Filing Administrator?
CBDT has appointed the Director General of Income Tax (Systems) as e-Filing Administrator for the purpose of electronic filing of TDS/TCS returns.
Who is an e-TDS/TCS Intermediary?
BDT has appointed National Securities Depository Limited, (NSDL), Mumbai, as e-TDS/TCS Intermediary. NSDL has established TIN Facilitation Centres (TIN-FCs) across the country to facilitate deductors/collectors file their e-TDS/TCS returns

How to Verify correctness of e-TDS/TCS return Prepared and FAQs on File Validation Utility (FVU)

 After I prepare my e-TDS/TCS return, is there any way I can check/verify whether it conforms to the prescribed data structure (file format)?
Yes, after you have prepared your e-TDS/TCS return you can check/verify the same by using the File Validation Utility (FVU). This utility is freely downloadable from the NSDL-TIN website.
What is File Validation Utility (FVU)?
FVU is a program developed by NSDL, which is used to ascertain whether the e-TDS/TCS return file contains any format level error(s). When you pass e-TDS/TCS return through FVU, it generates an ‘error/response file’. If there are no errors in the e-TDS/TCS return file, error/response file will display the control totals. If there are errors, the error/response file will display the error location and error code along with the error code description. In case you find any error, you can rectify the error and pass the e-TDS/TCS return file again through the FVU till you get an error-free file.
What is the ‘Upload File’ in the new File Validation Utility?
Earlier the e-TDS/TCS return file after validating using File Validation Utility (FVU) had to be filed with TIN-FC. Now ‘Upload File’ that is generated by the FVU when the return is validated using the FVU has to be filed with TIN-FC. This ‘upload file’ is a file with the same filename as the ‘input file’ but with extension .fvu. Example ‘input file’ name is 27EQGov.txt, the upload file generated will be 27EQGov.fvu.
What are the platforms for execution of FVU?
For Annual Returns, FVU can be executed on any of the Windows platforms mentioned below: Win 95/Win 98/Win 2K Professional/Win 2K Server/Win NT 4.0 Server/Win XP Professional.
For Quarterly Returns, Java has to be installed to run FVU. Details are given in FVU section of NSDL-TIN website.
What are the Control Totals appearing in the Error/Response File generated by validating the text file through File Validation Utility (FVU) of NSDL?
The Control Totals in Error/Response File are generated only when a valid file is generated. Otherwise, the Error/Response File shows the nature of error. The control totals are as under:
  • Number of deductee/party records : In case of Form 24/24Q, it is equal to the number of employees for which TDS return is being prepared. In case of Form 26/27/26Q/27Q, it is equal to the total number of records of tax deduction. 10 payments to 1 party would mean 10 deductee records.
  • Amount Paid : This is the Total Amount of all payments made on which tax was deducted. In case of Form 24/24Q, it is equal to the Total Taxable Income of all the employees. In case of Form 26/27/26Q/27Q, this is equal to the total of all the amounts on which tax has been deducted at source.
  • Tax Deducted : This is the Total Amount of tax actually deducted at source for all payments.
  • Tax Deposited : This is the total of all the deposit challans. This is normally the same as Tax Deducted but at times may be different due to interest or other amount.
Are the control totals appearing in Form 27A same as that of Error/Response File?
Yes, the control totals in Form 27A and in Error/Response File are same.
What if any of the control totals mentioned in Form No. 27A do not match with that in e-TDS/TCS return?
In such a case the e-TDS/TCS return will not be accepted by the TIN-FC. You should ensure that the control totals generated by FVU and that mentioned on Form No. 27A match. In case of any difficulties/queries, you should contact the TIN-FC or TIN Call Centre at NSDL.

 

 

Amendment in Form 13


This is to inform you that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) vide Notification No. 133/2011 dated March 29th 2011 has notified Incomeâ€tax (Second Amendment) Rules, 2011 which amends Rule- 28AA dealing with issue of Certificate for deduction at lower rates or no deduction of tax from income other than dividends as well as Form No. 13. The amended Rule 28AA will apply only in respect of Certificate for deduction at lower rates or no deduction of tax from income other than dividends to be issued on or after April 1st 2011 pursuant to an application to be made in the amended Form 13 (read with Rule 28).

The salient features of amended Rule-28AA are as under:

· The Assessing Officer should satisfy that the existing existing and estimated tax liability of a person justifies the deduction of tax at lower rate or no deduction of tax, as the case may be.

· The existing and estimated liability shall be determined by the Assessing Officer after taking into account the following:

· Tax payable on estimated income of the previous year relevant to the assessment year for which application in Form No. 13 is made

· Tax payable on the assessed or returned income, as the case may be, of the last three previous years;

· Existing liability under the Income-tax Act,1961 and Wealth-tax Act,1957;       

· Advance tax payment for the assessment year relevant to the previous year till the date of making application under sub-rule (1) of rule 28;

· Tax deducted at source for the assessment year relevant to the previous year till the date of making application under sub-rule (1) of rule 28; and

· Tax collected at source for the assessment year relevant to the previous year till the date of making application under sub-rule (1) of rule 28.

·  The certificate shall be valid for such period of the previous year as may be specified in the certificate, unless it is cancelled by the Assessing Officer at any time before the expiry of the specified period.

·  The certificate shall be valid only with regard to the person responsible for deducting the tax and named therein.

·  The certificate shall be issued direct to the person responsible for deducting the tax under advice to the person who made an application for issue of such certificate."

·  In the quarterly statement of e-TDS, the following particulars are also to be given, namely:

- The amount paid or credited on which tax was not deducted in view of the issue of certificate of no deduction of tax under section 197 by the Assessing Officer of the payee;

- The amount paid or credited on which tax was not deducted in view of the compliance of provisions of sub-section (6) of section 194C by the payee.
  
Further, in the revised Form No. 13, certain new sub-clauses are inserted/amended to Clause 2, mainly sub-clauses (iv) to (ix). Please go through the same

In view of the above, the application for issue of Nil/Lower Tax deduction certificate under section 197 on or after April 1st 2011 needs to be made in the amended Form No. 13

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