DIN 4 Date Extended

SECTION 266B OF THE COMPANIES ACT, 1956 - ALLOTMENT OF DIRECTOR'S IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (DIN) - TIME FOR FILING DIN-4 BY DIN HOLDERS FOR FURNISHING PAN & TO UPDATE PAN DETAILS EXTENDED

GENERAL CIRCULAR NO. 66/2011, DATED 4-10-2011

In continuation of General Circular No. 32/2011, dated 31-5-2011 on the subject cited matter, I am directed to say that the time for filing DIN-4 by DIN holders for furnishing the PAN and to update PAN details has been extended till 15-12-2011.

Legal -ST-Arbitration -Exemption

TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE OF INDIA, EXTRAORDINARY, PART II, SECTION 3, SUB-SECTION (i)]

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

(Department of Revenue) 

  

Notification No. 45/2011 – Service Tax

 New Delhi, the 12^th September, 2011

            G.S.R. (E).- In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 93 of the Finance Act, 1994 (32 of 1994), the Central Government, being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts taxable services referred to under item (iii) of sub-clause (zzzzm) of clause (105) of section 65 of Finance Act, 1994.

2. This notification shall come into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

[F. No. 354/167/2011-TRU]

(Samar Nanda)

 Under Secretary to the Government of India

By virtue of this notification, Services rendered to any business entity, by an arbitral tribunal, in respect of arbitration  shall be exempted from service tax.

V.Imp-e-Filing of Returns-Practical Issues

 E-filing of Returns for Assessment Year 2011-12 - Practical Issues
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ER 5 & ER 6 – Electronic Filing Mandatory

ER 5 & ER 6 – Electronic Filing Mandatory

Every excise assessee is required to file ER-5(Annual Information relating to principal inputs) & ER 6 (Monthly return of Receipts and  Consumption of each of principal inputs) electronically with effect from 1^st October,2011 without any limit in payment of excise duty and cenvat credit mandatorily.

See notification

Advocates -e-Forms -Companies Act

Advocates/corporate advocates cannot be included in list of practicing professionals and they cannot issue various certificates integrated into various e-forms notified under Companies Act and Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008
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PPF Deposit Limit Increased

MODIFICATION IN PPF SCHEME : DEPOSIT LIMIT RECOMMENDED TO BE RAISED FROM RS. 70,000 TO RS. ONE LAC WHILE RATE OF INTEREST ON ADVANCES AGAINST DEPOSITS IN PPF SCHEME RAISED FROM 1 PER CENT TO 2 PERCENTAGE POINTS

PRESS RELEASE, DATED 6-9-2011

The Committee on Comprehensive Review of National Small Savings Fund (NSSF) headed by Deputy Governor, RBI has recommended revision of certain provisions of PPF Scheme, 1968 and benchmarking of interest rates on various small savings schemes with the secondary market yields on Central Government securities of comparable maturities with suitable spread.

The Committee has recommended increasing the deposit limit under PPF Scheme from existing Rs. 70,000 to Rs. 1 lakh per annum and fixing of rate of interest on advances against deposits in PPF scheme at 2 percentage points as against the prevailing interest rate on such advances at 1 per cent.

The Committee has further recommended benchmarking interest rate on small saving schemes to interest rate on Government securities of similar maturities with a positive spread of 25 basis points on all schemes except for 50 basis points for 10 year NSC and 100 basis point for Senior citizens Savings Scheme. Recommendations of the Committee have been referred to State Governments and concerned Ministries/Departments of Central Government for their comments.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Finance Shri Namo Narain Meena in a written reply to a question raised in Rajya Sabha today.

CBDT Letter on Appeals

SECTION 268A OF THE INCOME-TAX ACT, 1961 - APPEALS AND REVISION - FILING OF APPEAL OR APPLICATION FOR REFERENCE BY INCOME-TAX AUTHORITY - CBDT's INSTRUCTION NO. 3/2011, DATED 9-2-2011 REVISING MONETARY LIMITS NOT TO APPLY IPSO FACTO TO APPEALS FILED PRIOR TO 9-2-2011

LETTER NO. DIT(L&R)-I/SLP/393/2011/4589, DATED 2-9-2011

1. Kindly refer to the above.

2. In a large number of cases Hon'ble Delhi High Court has summarily dismissed the appeals filed by the department prior to 9-2-2011 on the ground that the tax effect involved was less than the revised monetary limits of tax effect involved prescribed by CBDT Instruction No. 3/2011, dated 9-2-2011.

3. As per Instruction No. 3/2011 the revised monetary limit was applicable only for the appeals filed on or after 9-2-2011 i.e. the date of issue of Instruction. As per para 11 of the Instruction, it was clarified that the appeals filed earlier would be governed by the old instructions operative at the time of filing.

4. On this issue SLP was filed in Supreme Court and one case namely Surya Herbal came up for hearing before the Hon'ble Supreme Court on 29-8-2011. The order passed by the Hon'ble Court in that case in SLP(C) CC No. 13694 of 2011 is enclosed herewith (see Annexure). The Supreme Court has directed that review petition be filed in High Court within two weeks. In such cases the attention of the High Court may be drawn to the observations of Supreme Court with a prayer not to apply the Instruction No. 3/2011 ipso facto in respect of appeals filed prior to 9-2-2011.

5. In view of the above, the Board desires that in all such cases (including the cases in which proposal to file SLP has been sent to Directorate of Legal & Research) immediate steps be taken to file review petition in High Court pointing out the observations of Supreme Court. The officers may be advised not to send any proposals henceforth to file SLP in such cases.

ANNEXURE

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

Commissioner of Income-tax Central-III

v.

Surya Herbal Ltd.

CHIEF JUSTICE; K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN
AND SWATANTER KUMAR, J.

CC NO. 13694/2011

AUGUST 29, 2011

Goolam E. Vahanvati, Rupesh Kumar, Anand Kannan and B.V. Balaram Das for the Petitioner.

ORDER

Delay condoned.

Liberty is given to the Department to move the High Court pointing out that the Circular, dated 9-2-2011, should not be applied ipso facto, particularly, when the matter has a cascading effect. There are cases under the Income-tax Act, 1961, in which a common principle may be involved in subsequent group of matters or large number of matters. In our view, in such cases if attention of the High Court is drawn, the High Court will not apply the Circular ipso facto. For that purpose, liberty is granted to the Department to move the High Court in two weeks.

The special leave petition is, accordingly, disposed of.

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DTAA with Singapore Amended

SECTION 90 OF THE INCOME-TAX ACT, 1961 - DOUBLE TAXATION
AGREEMENT - AGREEMENT FOR AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION
AND PREVENTION OF FISCAL EVASION WITH SINGAPORE - SECOND
PROTOCOL AMENDING SAID AGREEMENT
NOTIFICATION NO. 47/2011 [F. NO. 500/139/2002-FTD-II], DATED 1-9-2011- see attachment

Circular On Monetary Limits For Filing Appeals Applicable Prospectively: CBDT

Government of India
Office of the Director of Income-tax (Legal & Research)-I
3rd Floor, Drum Shape Building, I P Estate, New Delhi – 110002
Phone: 2337 8302 Fax: 2337 8826

No. DIT (L&R) –I/SLP/393/2011/4589 Date: 02/09/11

To
All Chief Commissioners of Income-tax
All Directors General of Income-tax
Sir / Madam,

Sub Observations of Hon'ble Apex Court- Summary dismissal of departmental appeal by Delhi High Court by retrospective application of monetary limits of tax effect revised by CBDT Inst No 3 of 2011 – filing of review petition in High Court – reg


Kindly refer to the above.

2. In a large number of cases Hon'ble Delhi High Court has summarily dismissed the appeals filed by the department prior to 09/02/11 on the ground that the tax effect involved was less than the revised monetary limits of tax effect involved prescribed by CBDT Instruction No 3/2011 dtd 09/02/11.


3. As per Instruction No 3/2011 the revised monetary limit was applicable only for the appeals filed on or after 09/02/11 ie the date of issue of Instruction. As per para 11 of the Instruction, it was clarified that the appeals filed earlier would be governed by the old instructions operative at the time of filing.

4. On this issue SLP was filed in Supreme Court and one case namely Surya Herbal came up for hearing before the Hon'ble Supreme Court on 29/08/11. The order passed by the Hon'ble court in that case in SLP(C) CC No 13694 of 2011 is enclosed herewith. The Supreme Court has directed that review petition be filed in High Court within two weeks. In such cases the attention of the High Court may be drawn to the observations of Supreme Court with a prayer not to apply the Instruction No 3/2011 ipso facto in respect of appeals filed prior to 09/02/11.

5. In view of the above, the Board desires that in all such cases (including the cases in which proposal to file SLP has been sent to Directorate of Legal & Research) immediate steps be taken to file review petition in High Court pointing out the observations of Supreme Court. The officers may be advised not to send any proposals henceforth to file SLP in such cases.

Yours faithfully
(R. K. Gupta)
Director of Income-tax (L&R)-I
New Delhi

Tax Challan Correction Procedure

Revised Procedure from 1st September 2011 to get Income Tax , TDS, Self Assessment Tax, Advance Tax, Wealth Tax  and Other Direct tax Payment Challan corrected / Rectified which were  paid at bank in Physical Mode and time period within which correction request can be made along with conditions , Procedures for the same and Format of the letter to bank.

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:

1. Correction in Name is not permitted.
2. Any combination of correction of Minor Head and Assessment Year together is not allowed.
3. PAN/TAN correction will be allowed only when the name in the challan matches with the name as per the new PAN/TAN.
4. 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.
5. For a single challan, correction is allowed only once. However, where ₁st correction request is made only for amount, a 2^nd correction request will be allowed for correction in other fields.
6. 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.

MCA puts cap on salaries of CEOs

MCA puts cap on salaries of CEOs

New Delhi
August 26, 2011

The corporate affairs ministry has set a ceiling on the total remuneration to be paid to CEOs in the country. The total managerial remuneration to be paid to a board-level CEO of a company that has only one whole-time director would be capped at 5% of the total net profit of the company, minister of state for corporate affairs RPN Singh said in a written reply in Parliament on Thursday.
Singh also said for those firms that have more than one whole-time director, the total remuneration of its entire board of directors should not exceed 10% of the net profit. However, he said that if a company chooses to pay more it would require the ministry's approval.
The development is significant since corporate houses would now be required to seek MCA approval if they choose to shell out over 5% of the net profit for remunerating their CEOs or 10% of the net profit for remunerating the entire board of directors.
[Source: The Financial Express]

ST 3 Electronic Filing Mandatory

WITH EFFECT FROM 1ST OCTOBER,2011 EVERY SERVICE TAX ASSESSEE IS REQUIRED TO FILE HALF-YEARLY RETURN ELECTRONICALLY IRRESPECTIVE OF SERVICE TAX PAID .

SERVICE TAX (FOURTH AMENDMENT) RULES, 2011 - AMENDMENT IN RULE 7

NOTIFICATION NO. 43/2011 - SERVICE TAX/G.S.R. 642 (E), DATED 25-8-2011

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) read with sub-section (2) of section 94 of the Finance Act, 1994 (32 of 1994), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Service Tax Rules, 1994, namely :—

1. (1) These rules may be called the Service Tax (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2011.

(2) They shall come into force on the 1st day of October, 2011.

2. In the Service Tax Rules, 1994, in rule 7,—

 (a)  in sub-rule (2), the proviso shall be omitted;

 (b)  after sub-rule (2) as so amended, the following sub-rule shall be inserted, namely:—

"(3) Every assessee shall submit the half-yearly return electronically".

TDS-CIRCULAR NO. 6/2011, DATED 24-8-2011

SECTION 200A OF THE INCOME-TAX ACT, 1961 - DEDUCTION OF TAX AT SOURCE - PROCESSING OF STATEMENT OF TAX DEDUCTED AT SOURCE - PROCEDURE FOR REGULATING REFUND OF EXCESS AMOUNT OF TDS DEDUCTED AND/OR PAID - MODIFICATION OF CIRCULAR NO. 2/2011, DATED 27-4-2011

CIRCULAR NO. 6/2011, DATED 24-8-2011

In partial modification of Circular No. 2/2011, dated 27-4-2011, the following words are added at the end of paragraph 4.2 of the said circular.

"However, the refund claims pertaining to the period upto March 31, 2009 may be submitted to the Assessing Officer (TDS) upto 31-12-2012."

2. This issues with the approval of competent authority.

TDS-CIRCULAR NO. 6/2011, DATED 24-8-2011

SECTION 200A OF THE INCOME-TAX ACT, 1961 - DEDUCTION OF TAX AT SOURCE - PROCESSING OF STATEMENT OF TAX DEDUCTED AT SOURCE - PROCEDURE FOR REGULATING REFUND OF EXCESS AMOUNT OF TDS DEDUCTED AND/OR PAID - MODIFICATION OF CIRCULAR NO. 2/2011, DATED 27-4-2011

CIRCULAR NO. 6/2011, DATED 24-8-2011

In partial modification of Circular No. 2/2011, dated 27-4-2011, the following words are added at the end of paragraph 4.2 of the said circular.

"However, the refund claims pertaining to the period upto March 31, 2009 may be submitted to the Assessing Officer (TDS) upto 31-12-2012."

2. This issues with the approval of competent authority.

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Monetary Limits- Appeals

REDUCTION OF GOVERNMENT LITIGATION - PROVIDING MONETARY LIMITS FOR FILING APPEALS BY DEPARTMENT BEFORE CESTAT/HIGH COURTS AND SUPREME COURT

INSTRUCTION [F.NO.390/MISC./163/2010-JC], DATED 17-8-2011

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 35R of the Central Excise Act, 1944 made applicable to Service Tax vide section 83 of the Finance Act, 1994 and section 131BA of the Customs Act, 1962 the Central Board of Excise & Customs (hereinafter referred to as the Board) fixes the following monetary limits below which appeal shall not be filed in the Tribunal, High Court and the Supreme Court:

Sl. No.	Appellate Forum	Monetary limit
1.	CESTAT	Rs.5,00,000
2.	HIGH COURTS	Rs.10,00,000
3.	SUPREME COURT	Rs.25,00,000

2. For ascertaining whether a matter would be covered within or without the aforementioned limits, the determinative element would be duty/tax under dispute. To illustrate it further in a case involving duty of Rs. 5 lakhs or below with equal penalty and interest, as the case may be, no appeal shall be filed in the Tribunal. Similarly, no appeal shall be filed in the High Courts if the duty involved does not exceed Rs.10 lakhs with or without penalty and interest. Further, the Commissionerates shall not send proposal to the Board for filing Civil Appeal or Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court in a case involving duty up to Rs.25 lakhs, whether with penalty and interest or otherwise. However, where the imposition of penalty is the subject-matter of dispute and the said penalty exceeds the limit prescribed, then the matter could be litigated further. Similarly, where the subject-matter of dispute is the demand of interest and the amount of interest exceeds the prescribed limit, then the matter may require further litigation.

3. Adverse judgments relating to the following should be contested irrespective of the amount involved:

 (a)  Where the constitutional validity of the provisions of an Act or Rule is under challenge.

 (b)  Where Notification/Instruction/Order or Circular has been held illegal or ultra vires.

4. Several queries connected with application of monetary limits have been raised by the field formations which were considered by the Board and are being clarified as below:—

Issues	Clarifications
(a)  Whether duty involved mentioned in the Instruction dated 20-10-2010 refers to duty outstanding to be collected or the total duty demanded for deciding the threshold limit prescribed therein.	In a case where a part of the duty demanded is not disputed and is paid and the outstanding duty under dispute is less than the monetary limit prescribed by the Board, no appeal shall be filed. In other words, monetary limit shall apply on the disputed duty and not on the total duty demanded in a case.
(b)  Whether monetary limits would apply to cases of refund.	It is clarified that the monetary limits being prescribed by the Board would apply to cases of refund as well.
(c)  Whether applications being filed by the Department before office of Joint Secretary (Revision Application) would also be covered under the stipulation of monetary limits.	The limit specified herein will not be applicable to application filed before the Joint Secretary (Revision Application).
(d)  Whether exclusion of audit objections mentioned in para 6(c) of Instruction dated 20-10-2010 would cover internal audit objection cases also or whether they would be limited to cases of revenue audit alone.	The intention was to apply the exclusion clause mentioned at para 6(c) only to disputes arising out of revenue audit objections accepted by the Department. It has now been decided to delete the said exclusion clause (refer para 3 of this Instruction). Therefore, in all cases of audit objections accepted by the Department, while protective demands may continue to be issued but the same would be subjected to the monetary limits for filing appeal in the Tribunal, High Courts and the Supreme Court.

5. The revised monetary limits shall come into force from 1-9-2011.

6. This Instruction is in continuation of earlier Instruction of even number dated 20-10-2010 and seeks to revise the monetary limits, exclusion clauses and clarifies the doubts raised by the field formations on this issue.

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Circular on TDS on Salaries -2011-12

IT : Instructions for Income-tax deduction from salaries during the financial year 2011-2012 under section 192 - CIRCULAR NO. 05/2011 [F.NO. 275/192/2011-IT(B)], DATED 16-08-2011  

 

Acceptance of e-TDS/TCS statements in Pen Drive:

Acceptance of e-TDS/TCS statements in Pen Drive:

1. Submission of e-TDS/TCS statement has been enabled in Pen Drive in addition to the existing option of CD.
2. Deductors /Collectors are advised to check the feasibility of acceptance of statement in pen drive with TIN Facilitation centers before submission.
3. The Pen Drive / CD may contain details of multiple e-TDS/TCS statements.
4. The computer media (CD/Pen Drive) will be return after acceptance of statements

Kindle, Wi-Fi, 6" E Ink Pearl Display

Minutes of Meeting of BCAS Representatives with CIT, Central Processing Centre

Minutes of Meeting of BCAS Representatives with CIT, Central Processing Centre

Recently, BCAS representatives met with the CIT, Central Processing Centre of the Income-tax Department at Bengaluru to discuss various problems that are faced by tax payers who use the e-filing facility. for the minutes of the said meeting, please click here

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Best Wishes

CA. V.M.V.SUBBA RAO
Chartered Accountant
Door No.24-2-1885,
I Floor, Flat No.5,
Siddivinayaka Residency, I Cross,
Central Avenue, MSR Nagar,
Magunta Layout,
Nellore-524 003
Andhra Pradesh
India
Mobile:+91 - 0 9390221100
           +91 - 0 9440278412
e-Mail: vmvsr@rediffmail.com
           vmvsr@yahoo.co.uk
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