Vide the Income-tax (Sixth Amendment) Rules, 2010, amendments have been intro-duced in the already tedious TDS rules. In this article, the a...
Vide the Income-tax (Sixth Amendment) Rules, 2010, amendments have been intro-duced in the already tedious TDS rules. In this article, the author has analysed the amended TDS rules and compared the same with the existing provisions. He also discusses as to how these existing rules and unwarranted amendments in it takes toll of the taxpayers because with every change the taxpayers have to change their schedules of payment of tax to avoid the penal actions for violation of the same. He opines that after going through these rules, it is clear that instead of making taxpayer friendly rules for the tax deduction at source, which is the need of the hour, the law makers have changed the procedural part of it in the form of due dates, introduction of new and amended forms and certificates, etc. Thus, the whole exercise is futile resulting in procedural hazards for the taxpayers.
Introduction
1. The lawmakers have once again introduced amendments in the already ‘tedious’ TDS Rules and after going through these Rules, it is clear that instead of making taxpayer friendly rules for tax deduction at source, which is the need of the hour, they have changed the procedural part of it in the form of due dates, introduction of new and amended forms and certificates, etc.
Rules for TDS and related forms are subject to change in every year or two and there is no stability in their formation. The reason for such frequent changes is very simple and it is the ‘search of excellence’ and in their thrust of this search, the lawmakers are applying ‘trial and error’ method to make the system of TDS perfect, but still they have to fix the ‘standard of perfection’ and, thus, the whole exercise is futile resulting in procedural hazards for the taxpayers.
TDS is biggest source of collection of tax and the trade and industry which are paying sums on one head or other are required to deduct tax and deposit the same with the Government and this collection service on behalf of the Government is a ‘Free and thankless service’ but the procedural hazards of this game are so complicated and confusing that whole game of TDS can be termed as ‘harassment of the Taxpayers’. Further, the problem is multiplied by one more reason that there is no proper system of verification of the TDS claimed by the taxpayers even after automation of the same; there is one apprehension in the mind of lawmakers that in absence of proper ‘cross-verification’, there is always a possibility of fraud. So they are changing these rules every year to make them more complicated.
Let us see what are the amended TDS rules and in the part, we will discuss how these existing rules and unwarranted amendments in it taking toll of the taxpayers because with every change the taxpayers have to change their schedules of payment of tax to avoid the penal actions for violation of the same.
Following Rules have been replaced by new rules having same numbers by the Income-tax (Sixth Amendment) Rules, 2010:—
Rule No.
Description
Rule 30
Time and mode of payment to Government account of tax deducted at source or tax paid under section (1A) of section 192.
Rule 31
Certificate of tax deducted at source to be furnished under section 203
Rule 31A
Statement of deduction of tax under sub-section (3) of section 200
Rule 31AA
Statement of collection of tax under sub-section (3) of section 206C
First of all we will analyze and try to understand the amended TDS rules which have been introduced through the Income-tax (Sixth Amendment) Rules, 2010 and compare the same with the existing provisions—
A. TIME OF DEPOSIT OF TDS
(Rule 30)
(i) Normal time of payment of TDS
Rule 30 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 is related to the time-limit of payment of TDS to the Government exchequer and in this respect, certain changes have been made which are effective from April 1, 2010. Let us see the new time-limits for payment of TDS:—
Description of the deduction of tax
Due date of payment of the same
Government deduction:—
(Where deductor is Government)
(i)
Where tax is paid without production of the Challan
On the same day, i.e., on the day of deduction
(ii)
Where tax is paid through Income-tax Challan
On or before 7th day from the end of the month in which deduction is made or Income-tax is due under section 192(1A).
Other Deductors:—
(i)
Where income or amount on which TDS is to be deducted is paid or credited in the Month of March.
On or before 30th April
(ii)
In other cases
On or before 7th day from the end of the month in which deduction is made or Income-tax is due under section 192(1A)
An important change has been made with respect to the TDS to be deposited by the Government. Earlier, it has to be deposited on the same day. Now the Government TDS can also be paid through challan and in that case the same should be deposited within 7 days from the end of the month in which the deduction is made. If the same is deposited through book entry, then it has to be deposited on the same day.
As per the existing provisions before this amendment, the date of payment of TDS for the month of March for other deductors (i.e. other than Government) was as under:—
TDS with respect to income or amount is paid or credited from March 1st to March 30th
7th April
TDS with respect to income or amount is paid or credited on 31st March
31st May
Now the whole TDS (Non-Government Deductors) for the month of March can be deposited up to 30th April.
One thing which should be noted is that the facility of depositing the TDS on or before May 31st when income is credited or paid on March 31st was not available for all the heads of TDS and special exclusion from this List was ‘Salary’ (Section 192) head along with ‘Winning from lottery’ (Section 194B), ‘Winning from Horse races’ (section 194BB) with certain other exceptions.
Now for all the ‘Non-Government TDS’ irrespective of heads or source of income for non-Government deductors, TDS can be deposited on or before April 30th if the income is paid or credited in the month of March.
Disadvantages of this amendment - The Non-Government salary deductors will now deposit their TDS for the salary paid in the month of ‘March’ on April 30th instead of April 7th and that certainly will delay the issuance of ‘Form 16’ to the employees and the time lag to file the ITR will be reduced because as per the existing provisions (before this amendment) the employees are getting the ‘Form 16’ up to April 30th but now the ‘Non- Government employers’ can issue the same up to May 31st (See the dates of issue of TDS certificate below). The number of Non-Government salary employees is very large and the date of filing of ITR is still the same, i.e., July 31st and, hence, now, there will be a justified demand for extension of this date to Aug. 31st.
What is the Implication of Late payment of TDS?
The implications of late payment of TDS were fatal in the case of TDS deducted up to the assessment year 2009-10 for certain expenses, i.e., Interest, commission or brokerage, rent, royalty, fees for professional services or fees for technical services and amount payable to contractor or sub-contractors before introduction of relief by the Finance Act, 2010 by way of amendment in section 40a(ia).
The effect of late payment of TDS, especially in the light of section 40a(ia) with respect to these expenses is discussed as under:
Section 40a(ia) has been amended by the Finance Act, 2010 with effect from April 1, 2010, i.e., applicable for the assessment year 2010-11 to disallow the payment of such expenditure if the TDS is not deposited up to the date of filing of return of income-tax. This amendment was made applicable for all the TDS payments made in the financial year 2009-10 also.
Before this amendment, as made by the Finance Act, 2010, the amount of expenses, as mentioned above, were subject to disallowance if the due TDS up to the end of the month Feb. (i.e., tax deducted on payments made before March 1st) was not deposited up to March 31st though the disallowance for the TDS for the month of March could be avoided if the same was deposited up to the date of filing of return.
Now the late payment of TDS is not resulting in disallowance under section 40a(ia) till the last date of filing of return for these expenses though the late payment certainly attract the interest liability under section 201(1A).
New format - 24G for Government deposit without challan
If the TDS is deposited by the office of the Government without production of challan, i.e., through book entry, then the person responsible for crediting such sum to the credit of the Government shall be responsible to file Form No. 24G (electronically) within 10 days from the end of the month and also inform to the deductor the ‘Book identification Number’ generated by the agency to whom the Form 24G is filed to each of the deductors.
(ii) Special Time for payment of TDS
In special cases , the Assessing Officer may permit the quarterly payment of TDS and this permission is subject to prior approval of the Joint Commissioner of Income tax and is available only for the following types of TDS :—
Section
Nature of Payment
192
Salary
194A
Interest other than interest on security
194D
Insurance Commission
194H
Commission or Brokerage
With respect to these four types of TDS, the Assessing Officer may permit the quarterly payment of tax and in that case the due date for payment of TDS will be as under:—
Qtr. No.
Quarter ended on
Date of payment
I
30th June
7th July
II
30th Sept.
7th Oct.
III
31st Dec.
7th Jan.
IV
31st March
30th April
In the existing provisions, similar type of arrangement was there; but now certain changes with respect to the dates of payment of the same have been made. A discretionary power has been retained with the Assessing Officer and also approval of the Joint Commissioner has been retained to keep the procedural complications attached with the matter.
If law-makers are really concerned with the problems of certain types of taxpayers in making the monthly payment of TDS, then instead of providing this type of procedural jugglery, a clear-cut provision should be introduced to make quarterly payment for certain types of tax deductors based on limit of amount or number ofdeductees, etc.
The existing dates for quarterly payment of TDS under this provision for interest other than interest on securities, insurance commissions and commission and brokerage were July 15th, Oct. 15th, Jan. 15th and April 15th in this respect and with respect to salary the dates for quarterly payment of TDS were June 15th, Sept. 15th, Dec. 15th and March 15th which has been changed for the TDS deducted on or after April 1, 2010.
The Quarterly TDS payment facility is not available if the payment is to be made by the Government office.
B. MODE OF PAYMENT
Electronic payment of tax
There is no change in mode of payment of TDS and also in the specified list of persons who are compulsorily required to pay TDS electronically and in this respect all the persons mentioned in rule 125 are required to pay the TDS electronically. Let us, for the sake of clarity, see the exact wordings of rule 125 of the Income tax Rules, 1962:—
“125. Electronic Payment of tax - (1) The following persons shall pay tax electronically on or after the 1st day of April, 2008:—
(a) a company; and
(b) a person (other than a company), to whom the provisions of section 44AB are applicable.
(2) For the purposes of this rule:—
(a) ‘pay tax electronically’ shall mean, payment of tax by way of—
(i) internet banking facility of the authority bank; or
(ii) credit or debit cards;
(b) the word ‘tax’ shall have the meaning as assigned to it in clause (43) of section 2 of the Act and shall include interest and penalty.”
The expression ‘Pay tax electronically’ has been explained in rule 125 already but the same has also been clarified in sub–rule (7) of rule 30 and the payment through debit card has been retained as a mode of payment but credit card (as mentioned in rule 125) has been discarded for the reasons best known to the lawmakers.
The other persons can continue to pay the tax in paper format.
One should note that still lot of taxpayers , for want of electronic banking facility of their own, are paying tax in paper format though they are mandatorily required to pay all their taxes electronically. Every person whose accounts are under audit is not equipped with the e-banking facility and sometimes he don’t want to take it. It is a practical problem and these taxpayers instead of paying the tax or TDS in paper format (which is not permitted by the Act) should use the e-banking account of other person or agency since the payment of tax through e-banking account of other persons is also permitted (see Circular No. 5/2008, dated 14-7-2008).
C. TDS UP TO 31-3-2010
The new rule 30 is applicable from April 1, 2010 and it is clarified through newly introduced sub-rule (8) of rule 30 that for all the tax deducted before April 1, 2010, the existing rules applicable before substitution of these rules shall apply. Let us see rule 30(8):—
‘Where tax is deducted before the 1st day of April 2010, the provisions of this rule shall apply as they stood immediately before their substitution by the Income-tax (Sixth Amendment) Rules, 2010.’
D. CERTIFICATE OF TAX DEDUCTION
(Rule 31)
Format and Timing
The Form No. 16 (in case of salary) and Form No. 16A (for other TDS) are newly introduced replacing the existing one with certain changes to accommodate the new amendments and have to be delivered on the following due dates to the employees (salary) and payees (in other cases) :—
Form No.
Period
Due date
16
ANNUAL
31st May (earlier the date was 30th April)
16A
QUARTERLY
Within 15 days from the due date of furnishing the statement of tax deducted at source under rule 31A
Hereinbelow is a table prepared with respect to the due date for providing the certificate of deduction of tax (other than salary) after considering rule 31:—
Quarter ending on
Due date of furnishing the statement of tax deduction under rule 31A in ‘Form No. 24Q, 26Q or 27Q’ as the case may be
Due date for providing the ‘certificate in Form Nos. 16 and 16A’ of tax deduction to the employer or payee
I -
30th June
15th July
30th July
II -
30th Sept.
15th Oct.
30th Oct.
III -
31st. Dec.
15th Jan.
30th Jan.
IV -
31st. March
15th May
30th May
These provisions are applicable with respect to any TDS which has been deducted on or after April 1, 2010 and practically first year of application of these new provisions is financial year 2010-11. Tax deducted up to March 31, 2010 will continue to be governed under the old rules.
E. REQUIREMENT AND FORMALITIES
As per rule 31(2), the following details are mandatorily required to be mentioned in the Form No.16 or 16A, as the case may be :—
1. PAN of the deductee
2. TAN of the deductor
3. If the payment is made without Challan (in case of an office of the Government) the Book identification Number or Numbers
4. Challan Identification Number (CIN) in case the payment is made through bank
5. Receipt number of relevant quarterly statement - in case of certificate is related to TDS other than salary- Form No. 16A (Quarterly)
6. Receipt Numbers of all the relevant quarterly statements - In case of certificate is related to salary – Form No.16 (Annual) – the Form 16 has been suitable amended.
What is CIN: - BSR + the date of deposit of tax + challan serial number given by the bank [BSR means basic statistical return code of the bank branch where tax has been deposited.]
What happened to paperless TDS regime?
Section 203(3) of the Income-tax Act which was introduced to bring the paperless regime in TDS, before its final good bye by the Finance Act, 2010, is being reproduced herewith:—
‘Where the tax has been deducted or paid in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this chapter on or after the 1st day of April 2010, there shall be no requirement to furnish a certificate referred to in sub-section (1) or, as the case may be, by sub-section (2).’
In this section, the period after which the TDS certificates were not required to be given by the deductor to the deductee was ‘after 2005’ (as introduced by the Finance (No.2) Act, 2004, then the time was extended to 2006 by the Finance Act, 2005, then to 2008 by the Finance Act, 2006 and by the Finance Act, 2008, it was extended to 2010.
By the Finance Act, 2010, our lawmakers have withdrawn this section and made the delivery of TDS/TCS certificates from deductor/collector to deductee/collecteecompulsory ‘forever’.
Section 203(3) is an indication of the fact that our lawmakers are working on ‘trial and error method’ and they can introduce anything, postpone it, then postpone it again and take it back before its final and practical implementation and all this is done on their whims without even expressing any regret to the taxpayers.
Section 203(3) was introduced in 2005 and after that it was not made effective anytime and finally it has been withdrawn, there is goodbye to paperless regime for TDS forever.
The ITRs have been made paperless and no TDS certificates are required to be attached with the return of income but practically the refunds or the credits with respect to a certain amount of TDS are given only after making proper verification and certified copy of the TDS certificate from the deductors.
Is this the result of overestimation of IT capacity of the department or outsourcing agencies or the total failure of the system before its implementation?
The policy of lawmakers with respect to TDS is two steps ahead and four steps backward and everything in this respect is being done at the cost of taxpayers.
F. STATEMENT OF DEDUCTION OF TAX AT SOURCE
The statements to be furnished by the deductors are the same and in this respect we can list the major statements as under:—
Head
Form of statement
Salary
Form No. 24Q
In other cases
Form No. 26Q
If non-salary payment is made to a person who is non-resident not being a company or a foreign company or resident but not ordinary resident, then the quarterly statement is to be delivered in Form No. 27Q.
The dates for the submission of these quarterly statements are the same as compared to the existing provisions except for one change, namely, with respect to statement for last quarter, i.e., the quarter ending on March 31st for which date June 15th has been replaced by May 15th which is the result of change in date of payment of tax.
Compulsory e-filing of Statement
E-filing is continued to be mandatory for certain types of deductors and the list of these deductors is the same with one exception that the number of deductees in one quarter has been reduced to 20 from 50 to make the mandatory e-filing applicable to more cases. The list of deductors who are mandatorily required to file the quarterly statements electronically is as under:—
1. Office of the Government
2. Principal officer of a company
3. Persons whose accounts are under audit under section 44AB of the Income-tax Act, 1961 in the immediately preceding year.
4. The number of deductees in a quarter is 20 or More (earlier it was 50 or more)
Similar type of amendments have been made with respect to ‘Collection of Tax at Source’
Sudhir Halakhandi
CA
Introduction
1. The lawmakers have once again introduced amendments in the already ‘tedious’ TDS Rules and after going through these Rules, it is clear that instead of making taxpayer friendly rules for tax deduction at source, which is the need of the hour, they have changed the procedural part of it in the form of due dates, introduction of new and amended forms and certificates, etc.
Rules for TDS and related forms are subject to change in every year or two and there is no stability in their formation. The reason for such frequent changes is very simple and it is the ‘search of excellence’ and in their thrust of this search, the lawmakers are applying ‘trial and error’ method to make the system of TDS perfect, but still they have to fix the ‘standard of perfection’ and, thus, the whole exercise is futile resulting in procedural hazards for the taxpayers.
TDS is biggest source of collection of tax and the trade and industry which are paying sums on one head or other are required to deduct tax and deposit the same with the Government and this collection service on behalf of the Government is a ‘Free and thankless service’ but the procedural hazards of this game are so complicated and confusing that whole game of TDS can be termed as ‘harassment of the Taxpayers’. Further, the problem is multiplied by one more reason that there is no proper system of verification of the TDS claimed by the taxpayers even after automation of the same; there is one apprehension in the mind of lawmakers that in absence of proper ‘cross-verification’, there is always a possibility of fraud. So they are changing these rules every year to make them more complicated.
Let us see what are the amended TDS rules and in the part, we will discuss how these existing rules and unwarranted amendments in it taking toll of the taxpayers because with every change the taxpayers have to change their schedules of payment of tax to avoid the penal actions for violation of the same.
Following Rules have been replaced by new rules having same numbers by the Income-tax (Sixth Amendment) Rules, 2010:—
Rule No.
Description
Rule 30
Time and mode of payment to Government account of tax deducted at source or tax paid under section (1A) of section 192.
Rule 31
Certificate of tax deducted at source to be furnished under section 203
Rule 31A
Statement of deduction of tax under sub-section (3) of section 200
Rule 31AA
Statement of collection of tax under sub-section (3) of section 206C
First of all we will analyze and try to understand the amended TDS rules which have been introduced through the Income-tax (Sixth Amendment) Rules, 2010 and compare the same with the existing provisions—
A. TIME OF DEPOSIT OF TDS
(Rule 30)
(i) Normal time of payment of TDS
Rule 30 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 is related to the time-limit of payment of TDS to the Government exchequer and in this respect, certain changes have been made which are effective from April 1, 2010. Let us see the new time-limits for payment of TDS:—
Description of the deduction of tax
Due date of payment of the same
Government deduction:—
(Where deductor is Government)
(i)
Where tax is paid without production of the Challan
On the same day, i.e., on the day of deduction
(ii)
Where tax is paid through Income-tax Challan
On or before 7th day from the end of the month in which deduction is made or Income-tax is due under section 192(1A).
Other Deductors:—
(i)
Where income or amount on which TDS is to be deducted is paid or credited in the Month of March.
On or before 30th April
(ii)
In other cases
On or before 7th day from the end of the month in which deduction is made or Income-tax is due under section 192(1A)
An important change has been made with respect to the TDS to be deposited by the Government. Earlier, it has to be deposited on the same day. Now the Government TDS can also be paid through challan and in that case the same should be deposited within 7 days from the end of the month in which the deduction is made. If the same is deposited through book entry, then it has to be deposited on the same day.
As per the existing provisions before this amendment, the date of payment of TDS for the month of March for other deductors (i.e. other than Government) was as under:—
TDS with respect to income or amount is paid or credited from March 1st to March 30th
7th April
TDS with respect to income or amount is paid or credited on 31st March
31st May
Now the whole TDS (Non-Government Deductors) for the month of March can be deposited up to 30th April.
One thing which should be noted is that the facility of depositing the TDS on or before May 31st when income is credited or paid on March 31st was not available for all the heads of TDS and special exclusion from this List was ‘Salary’ (Section 192) head along with ‘Winning from lottery’ (Section 194B), ‘Winning from Horse races’ (section 194BB) with certain other exceptions.
Now for all the ‘Non-Government TDS’ irrespective of heads or source of income for non-Government deductors, TDS can be deposited on or before April 30th if the income is paid or credited in the month of March.
Disadvantages of this amendment - The Non-Government salary deductors will now deposit their TDS for the salary paid in the month of ‘March’ on April 30th instead of April 7th and that certainly will delay the issuance of ‘Form 16’ to the employees and the time lag to file the ITR will be reduced because as per the existing provisions (before this amendment) the employees are getting the ‘Form 16’ up to April 30th but now the ‘Non- Government employers’ can issue the same up to May 31st (See the dates of issue of TDS certificate below). The number of Non-Government salary employees is very large and the date of filing of ITR is still the same, i.e., July 31st and, hence, now, there will be a justified demand for extension of this date to Aug. 31st.
What is the Implication of Late payment of TDS?
The implications of late payment of TDS were fatal in the case of TDS deducted up to the assessment year 2009-10 for certain expenses, i.e., Interest, commission or brokerage, rent, royalty, fees for professional services or fees for technical services and amount payable to contractor or sub-contractors before introduction of relief by the Finance Act, 2010 by way of amendment in section 40a(ia).
The effect of late payment of TDS, especially in the light of section 40a(ia) with respect to these expenses is discussed as under:
Section 40a(ia) has been amended by the Finance Act, 2010 with effect from April 1, 2010, i.e., applicable for the assessment year 2010-11 to disallow the payment of such expenditure if the TDS is not deposited up to the date of filing of return of income-tax. This amendment was made applicable for all the TDS payments made in the financial year 2009-10 also.
Before this amendment, as made by the Finance Act, 2010, the amount of expenses, as mentioned above, were subject to disallowance if the due TDS up to the end of the month Feb. (i.e., tax deducted on payments made before March 1st) was not deposited up to March 31st though the disallowance for the TDS for the month of March could be avoided if the same was deposited up to the date of filing of return.
Now the late payment of TDS is not resulting in disallowance under section 40a(ia) till the last date of filing of return for these expenses though the late payment certainly attract the interest liability under section 201(1A).
New format - 24G for Government deposit without challan
If the TDS is deposited by the office of the Government without production of challan, i.e., through book entry, then the person responsible for crediting such sum to the credit of the Government shall be responsible to file Form No. 24G (electronically) within 10 days from the end of the month and also inform to the deductor the ‘Book identification Number’ generated by the agency to whom the Form 24G is filed to each of the deductors.
(ii) Special Time for payment of TDS
In special cases , the Assessing Officer may permit the quarterly payment of TDS and this permission is subject to prior approval of the Joint Commissioner of Income tax and is available only for the following types of TDS :—
Section
Nature of Payment
192
Salary
194A
Interest other than interest on security
194D
Insurance Commission
194H
Commission or Brokerage
With respect to these four types of TDS, the Assessing Officer may permit the quarterly payment of tax and in that case the due date for payment of TDS will be as under:—
Qtr. No.
Quarter ended on
Date of payment
I
30th June
7th July
II
30th Sept.
7th Oct.
III
31st Dec.
7th Jan.
IV
31st March
30th April
In the existing provisions, similar type of arrangement was there; but now certain changes with respect to the dates of payment of the same have been made. A discretionary power has been retained with the Assessing Officer and also approval of the Joint Commissioner has been retained to keep the procedural complications attached with the matter.
If law-makers are really concerned with the problems of certain types of taxpayers in making the monthly payment of TDS, then instead of providing this type of procedural jugglery, a clear-cut provision should be introduced to make quarterly payment for certain types of tax deductors based on limit of amount or number ofdeductees, etc.
The existing dates for quarterly payment of TDS under this provision for interest other than interest on securities, insurance commissions and commission and brokerage were July 15th, Oct. 15th, Jan. 15th and April 15th in this respect and with respect to salary the dates for quarterly payment of TDS were June 15th, Sept. 15th, Dec. 15th and March 15th which has been changed for the TDS deducted on or after April 1, 2010.
The Quarterly TDS payment facility is not available if the payment is to be made by the Government office.
B. MODE OF PAYMENT
Electronic payment of tax
There is no change in mode of payment of TDS and also in the specified list of persons who are compulsorily required to pay TDS electronically and in this respect all the persons mentioned in rule 125 are required to pay the TDS electronically. Let us, for the sake of clarity, see the exact wordings of rule 125 of the Income tax Rules, 1962:—
“125. Electronic Payment of tax - (1) The following persons shall pay tax electronically on or after the 1st day of April, 2008:—
(a) a company; and
(b) a person (other than a company), to whom the provisions of section 44AB are applicable.
(2) For the purposes of this rule:—
(a) ‘pay tax electronically’ shall mean, payment of tax by way of—
(i) internet banking facility of the authority bank; or
(ii) credit or debit cards;
(b) the word ‘tax’ shall have the meaning as assigned to it in clause (43) of section 2 of the Act and shall include interest and penalty.”
The expression ‘Pay tax electronically’ has been explained in rule 125 already but the same has also been clarified in sub–rule (7) of rule 30 and the payment through debit card has been retained as a mode of payment but credit card (as mentioned in rule 125) has been discarded for the reasons best known to the lawmakers.
The other persons can continue to pay the tax in paper format.
One should note that still lot of taxpayers , for want of electronic banking facility of their own, are paying tax in paper format though they are mandatorily required to pay all their taxes electronically. Every person whose accounts are under audit is not equipped with the e-banking facility and sometimes he don’t want to take it. It is a practical problem and these taxpayers instead of paying the tax or TDS in paper format (which is not permitted by the Act) should use the e-banking account of other person or agency since the payment of tax through e-banking account of other persons is also permitted (see Circular No. 5/2008, dated 14-7-2008).
C. TDS UP TO 31-3-2010
The new rule 30 is applicable from April 1, 2010 and it is clarified through newly introduced sub-rule (8) of rule 30 that for all the tax deducted before April 1, 2010, the existing rules applicable before substitution of these rules shall apply. Let us see rule 30(8):—
‘Where tax is deducted before the 1st day of April 2010, the provisions of this rule shall apply as they stood immediately before their substitution by the Income-tax (Sixth Amendment) Rules, 2010.’
D. CERTIFICATE OF TAX DEDUCTION
(Rule 31)
Format and Timing
The Form No. 16 (in case of salary) and Form No. 16A (for other TDS) are newly introduced replacing the existing one with certain changes to accommodate the new amendments and have to be delivered on the following due dates to the employees (salary) and payees (in other cases) :—
Form No.
Period
Due date
16
ANNUAL
31st May (earlier the date was 30th April)
16A
QUARTERLY
Within 15 days from the due date of furnishing the statement of tax deducted at source under rule 31A
Hereinbelow is a table prepared with respect to the due date for providing the certificate of deduction of tax (other than salary) after considering rule 31:—
Quarter ending on
Due date of furnishing the statement of tax deduction under rule 31A in ‘Form No. 24Q, 26Q or 27Q’ as the case may be
Due date for providing the ‘certificate in Form Nos. 16 and 16A’ of tax deduction to the employer or payee
I -
30th June
15th July
30th July
II -
30th Sept.
15th Oct.
30th Oct.
III -
31st. Dec.
15th Jan.
30th Jan.
IV -
31st. March
15th May
30th May
These provisions are applicable with respect to any TDS which has been deducted on or after April 1, 2010 and practically first year of application of these new provisions is financial year 2010-11. Tax deducted up to March 31, 2010 will continue to be governed under the old rules.
E. REQUIREMENT AND FORMALITIES
As per rule 31(2), the following details are mandatorily required to be mentioned in the Form No.16 or 16A, as the case may be :—
1. PAN of the deductee
2. TAN of the deductor
3. If the payment is made without Challan (in case of an office of the Government) the Book identification Number or Numbers
4. Challan Identification Number (CIN) in case the payment is made through bank
5. Receipt number of relevant quarterly statement - in case of certificate is related to TDS other than salary- Form No. 16A (Quarterly)
6. Receipt Numbers of all the relevant quarterly statements - In case of certificate is related to salary – Form No.16 (Annual) – the Form 16 has been suitable amended.
What is CIN: - BSR + the date of deposit of tax + challan serial number given by the bank [BSR means basic statistical return code of the bank branch where tax has been deposited.]
What happened to paperless TDS regime?
Section 203(3) of the Income-tax Act which was introduced to bring the paperless regime in TDS, before its final good bye by the Finance Act, 2010, is being reproduced herewith:—
‘Where the tax has been deducted or paid in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this chapter on or after the 1st day of April 2010, there shall be no requirement to furnish a certificate referred to in sub-section (1) or, as the case may be, by sub-section (2).’
In this section, the period after which the TDS certificates were not required to be given by the deductor to the deductee was ‘after 2005’ (as introduced by the Finance (No.2) Act, 2004, then the time was extended to 2006 by the Finance Act, 2005, then to 2008 by the Finance Act, 2006 and by the Finance Act, 2008, it was extended to 2010.
By the Finance Act, 2010, our lawmakers have withdrawn this section and made the delivery of TDS/TCS certificates from deductor/collector to deductee/collecteecompulsory ‘forever’.
Section 203(3) is an indication of the fact that our lawmakers are working on ‘trial and error method’ and they can introduce anything, postpone it, then postpone it again and take it back before its final and practical implementation and all this is done on their whims without even expressing any regret to the taxpayers.
Section 203(3) was introduced in 2005 and after that it was not made effective anytime and finally it has been withdrawn, there is goodbye to paperless regime for TDS forever.
The ITRs have been made paperless and no TDS certificates are required to be attached with the return of income but practically the refunds or the credits with respect to a certain amount of TDS are given only after making proper verification and certified copy of the TDS certificate from the deductors.
Is this the result of overestimation of IT capacity of the department or outsourcing agencies or the total failure of the system before its implementation?
The policy of lawmakers with respect to TDS is two steps ahead and four steps backward and everything in this respect is being done at the cost of taxpayers.
F. STATEMENT OF DEDUCTION OF TAX AT SOURCE
The statements to be furnished by the deductors are the same and in this respect we can list the major statements as under:—
Head
Form of statement
Salary
Form No. 24Q
In other cases
Form No. 26Q
If non-salary payment is made to a person who is non-resident not being a company or a foreign company or resident but not ordinary resident, then the quarterly statement is to be delivered in Form No. 27Q.
The dates for the submission of these quarterly statements are the same as compared to the existing provisions except for one change, namely, with respect to statement for last quarter, i.e., the quarter ending on March 31st for which date June 15th has been replaced by May 15th which is the result of change in date of payment of tax.
Compulsory e-filing of Statement
E-filing is continued to be mandatory for certain types of deductors and the list of these deductors is the same with one exception that the number of deductees in one quarter has been reduced to 20 from 50 to make the mandatory e-filing applicable to more cases. The list of deductors who are mandatorily required to file the quarterly statements electronically is as under:—
1. Office of the Government
2. Principal officer of a company
3. Persons whose accounts are under audit under section 44AB of the Income-tax Act, 1961 in the immediately preceding year.
4. The number of deductees in a quarter is 20 or More (earlier it was 50 or more)
Similar type of amendments have been made with respect to ‘Collection of Tax at Source’
Sudhir Halakhandi
CA
COMMENTS