As it is well known that the income tax department has allowed Aadhaar card holders to use the biometric id number in lieu of the Permanent Account Number (PAN). But as per new provision of Income Tax, fine of Rs. 10,000 may be levied in case of wrong Aadhar Number. As per the latest amendments in the Finance Bill 2019, not only allowed people to use Aadhaar in lieu of PAN but also introduced a penalty for giving a false Aadhaar number. However, the new penalty rules are applicable only in cases where you are using Aadhaar in lieu of PAN and where quoting PAN is mandatory according to the income tax department rules. It is well known that although Aadhaar is issued by the Unique Identity Authority of India, yet the fine is not imposed by UIDAI but by the income tax department. Under Section 272B of the Income Tax Act, 1961, the department can impose a penalty in case of default in complying with provisions relating to PAN, i.e., failure to obtain, quote, or authenticate PAN.
The finance ministry on Wednesday
said it is finalizing the official amendments to the Direct Taxes Code (DTC)
Bill so that it could be taken up in the winter session of Parliament beginning
5 December.
“We are working on the DTC Bill
and want to bring it as soon as possible,” revenue secretary Sumit Bose said on
the sidelines of a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) summit.
The finance ministry is currently
working on the official amendments to the DTC Bill which was tabled in
Parliament earlier.
Meanwhile, a senior finance
ministry official said that the amendments to the Bill would be placed before
the cabinet shortly for approval.
“The finance ministry wants to
bring it in the winter session of Parliament,” the official added.
Among other things, the DTC Bill
proposes a higher income tax rate of 35%.
While the Bill proposes to keep
exemption limit at Rs.2 lakh for individual tax unchanged, it proposes to
introduce a fourth slab of 35% tax rate for those with an annual income of over
Rs.10 crore.
It also proposes to levy a 10%
tax on dividend income of more than Rs.1 crore.
Besides, minimum alternate tax
(MAT) may be levied on book profit and not on gross assets, people familiar
with the matter said. Further, the securities transaction tax (STT) is likely
to be retained, though the standing committee on finance, which had scrutinized
the Bill, had suggested abolition of the levy.
At present, tax is levied on
income between Rs.2-5 lakh at 10%, Rs.5-10 lakh at 20%, and above Rs.10 lakh at
30%. Further, those earning more than Rs.1 crore have to pay a surcharge of
10%.
The finance ministry, according
to people familiar with the matter, had accepted most of the recommendations of
the standing committee.
On whether there is a scope for
lowering the rate of corporate tax, the official said it is not possible in
India.
The DTC Bill, which aims to
rationalize tax rates to bring more people and companies under the tax net and
overhaul the Income Tax Act of 1961, was introduced in Parliament in 2010.
The Bill has retained the 30% tax
on companies, which was also the recommendation of the standing committee. The
first draft of the Bill was prepared by finance minister P. Chidambaram in
2009, followed by a second draft by the then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee,
which was later sent to the standing committee for their recommendations.
The first draft prepared by
Chidambaram in 2009 had proposed a 10% income tax on slabs of Rs.1.6-10 lakh,
20% on slabs of Rs.10-25 lakh and 30% on Rs.25 lakh and above. Besides,
corporate tax was proposed at 25%.
This was followed by the draft
DTC Bill prepared by Mukherjee in 2010, which proposed income tax of 10% for
Rs.2-5 lakh slabs, 20% for Rs.5-10 lakh and 30% for Rs.10 lakh and above
besides corporate tax at 30%. The standing committee suggested slabs of Rs.3-10
lakh, Rs.10-20 lakh and Rs.20 lakh and above. On corporate tax, it recommended
the rate be retained at 30%.
Source : Mint News
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