FM introduces Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation & Amendment of Certain Provisions) Bill, 2020 in Lok Sabha

The Finance Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman has presented the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Bill, 2020 in the Lok Sabha. The bill seeks to amend different sections of the Income-tax Act.

The bill will supplant the ordinance which was proclaimed in March this year to give relaxations related to compliance by extending the time limit and waiving penalty in relation to certain specified laws.

These laws incorporate the Income Tax Act, 1961 (IT Act), some Finance Acts, the Central Excise Act, 1944, the Customs Act, 1962, and the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988. The law which was brought before likewise extended the deadline for filing declaration and due sum under the Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme.

The bill gives these relaxations considering spread of the Covid pandemic in India. The bill proposes change in the IT Act to give that gifts made by an individual to the PM CARES Fund will be qualified for 100 percent deduction in the taxable income.

Talking about the bill, the Finance Minister affirmed that the government is committed to ensure the privileges of the State governments and has never planned any deferral in turning out GST payments. Precluding cases of undue retrospective benefits being given out through Vivad se Vishwas Scheme, Ms. Sitharaman said that it is just a dispute resolution mechanism to decrease the extreme weight of prosecution and may not be viewed as an amnesty scheme.

Mr. Thakur included that even the Supreme Court in its ongoing judgment precluded transferring of funds from PMCARES to National Disaster Relief Fund refering to that all the gifts to it are voluntary. The resistance including Congress and TMC members created uproar and demanded apology after Mr. Thakur's comments on Prime Minister's National Relief Fund and Nehru-Gandhi family which brought about progressive suspensions of the lower house. The house continued later after the minister said that he didn't plan to hurt anybody's sentiments while introducing realities over the issue.

In view of stakeholders’ representations received after enactment of the Finance Act, 2020, and due to need for further rationalisation of some provisions of certain Acts, further amendments are considered necessary to be incorporated in the proposed Bill replacing the Ordinance.

The Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Bill, 2020 which tries to supplant the said Ordinance, inter alia, accommodates expansion of different time limits for fulfillment or consistence of activities under the predefined Acts and decrease in intrigue, waiver of punishment and arraignment for delay in installment of certain assessments or tolls during the predetermined period.

The Bill proposes changes to the Income-tax Act, 1961 which , inter alia, incorporate giving of expense motivating force to Category-III Alternative Investment Funds situated in the International Financial Services Center (IFSC) to encourage relocation of foreign funds to the IFSC, postponement of new technique of registration and approval of specific substances presented through the Finance Act, 2020, joining of Faceless Assessment Scheme, 2019 in that, enabling the Central Government to notify schemes for faceless processes under specific provisions by disposing of physical interface to the degree mechanically plausible and to give allowance or assortment at source in regard of specific exchanges at three-fourth's rate for the period from fourteenth May, 2020 to 31st March, 2021.

Giving relief to taxpayers following the COVID-19 outbreak, the government had through the ordinance extended the deadline for filing of income tax returns for 2018-19 fiscal till September 30 and linking biometric Aadhaar with PAN till March 31, 2021.

Also, the due date for filing income tax return for 2019-20 has been extended to November 30, 2020 and the date for furnishing tax audit report has also been extended to October 31, 2020.

Also, the time limit for making various investments for claiming deductions under the I-T Act, including section 80C (LIC, PPF, NSC etc), 80D (mediclaim), 80G (donations) for 2019-20 was extended till July 31, 2020.Promoted

Further, the date for passing of order or issuance of notice by authorities and various compliances under direct tax and benami transaction laws, which are required to be passed/ issued by December 31, 2020, has been extended to March 31, 2021.

Read The Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation & Amendment of Certain Provisions) Bill, 2020