A recent ruling of the Income-Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT)’s Mumbai bench has come as a relief to taxpayers embroiled in litigation on capital gains arising out of sale of their flats due to the sale price being lower than the stamp duty valuation.
ITAT has held that the benefit of a higher tolerance band of 10% for the difference between the sale price of a flat and the stamp duty valuation will apply with retrospective effect.

The ITAT bench of vice-president Pramod Kumar and judicial member Saktijit Dey held this benefit would apply retrospectively from financial year 2002-03 (assessment year beginning April 1, 2003) when anti-abuse provisions were introduced in the income-tax Act.
The ruling will help pending cases from these years when the acceptable variation rate was much lower or no such leeway was available. Tax experts said several such cases are pending at various levels, especially in larger cities such as Mumbai.
To prevent tax abuse and deter the use of black money in property deals, Section 50C was introduced by the Finance Act, 2002. It provided that if the sale consideration claimed to be received by the seller is less than the stamp duty rate, the latter would be considered for determining capital gains.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has relaxed the requirement of remunerating fund managers of certain offshore funds because of the amended Rule 10V for availing the special taxation regime under Section 9A.

The Section provides for a special taxation regime in respect of certain offshore funds in the context of their fund managers being located in India.


The CBDT has stated that for financial years 2019-20 and 2020-21 in cases where the remuneration paid to the fund manager is lower than the amount of remuneration prescribed under sub-rule (12) of Rule 10V, but is at arm’s length, there is no need to take CBDT nod for that lower amount to be the amount of remuneration.

The finance ministry has notified the Faceless Penalty Scheme under which national and regional centres will be set up to facilitate the conduct of faceless penalty proceedings in income tax cases.

“The penalty under this Scheme shall be imposed in respect of such territorial area, or persons or class of persons, or income or class of income or cases or class of cases, or penalties or class of penalties as may be specified by the CBDT,” the notification said.

As per the scheme, the National Faceless Penalty Centre will facilitate the conduct of faceless penalty proceedings in a centralised manner and has been vested with the jurisdiction to impose penalty. The scheme also provides for setting up of various Regional Faceless Penalty Centres.

The appeal against a penalty order made by the National Faceless Penalty Centre shall lie before the Commissioner (Appeals) having jurisdiction over the jurisdictional income tax authority or before the National Faceless Appeal Centre.

A person shall not be required to appear either personally or through authorised representative in connection with any proceedings before the income tax authority at the national or regional faceless penalty centres or penalty/penalty review unit set up under this scheme, it said.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has launched a dedicated e-portal to receive and process complaints on tax evasion, foreign undisclosed assets and benami properties.

The public can file a tax evasion petition through a link on the e-filing website of the income tax department.


Upon successful filing of the complaint, the income tax department will allot a unique number to each complaint and the complainant would be able to view the status of the complaint on the Department’s website.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has said it will not grant further extensions for filing return for cases where audit reports need to be filed.

The last date for filing the audit report is January 15 and for filing returns is February 15, for such cases.

“All representations for further extension of the due date are hereby rejected,” the Board said in an order dated January 11.

A special unit has been created by the government in the countrywide investigation wings of the Income Tax department for focussed probe in cases of undisclosed assets held by Indians abroad and possession of black money in foreign shores, officials said. The Foreign Asset Investigation Units (FAIUs) have been recently created in all the 14 investigation directorates of the tax department located in various parts of the country that are primarily tasked to undertake raids and seizures, and devel ...

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has determined that digital services taxes adopted by India discriminated against American companies and inconsistent with international tax principles, in a report issued Wednesday, but stopped short of taking specific actions saying it "will continue to evaluate all available options."

Over 5 crore income tax returns (ITRs) for fiscal year 2019-20 have been filed till January 4, the Income Tax Department said on Tuesday. The government has extended the ITR filing deadline for individuals till January 10, and for companies till February 15.

"Over 5.01 crore Income Tax Returns for AY 2020-21 have already been filed till 04th of January, 2021," the Income Tax Department said in a tweet.

In a massive clean up of legacy issues, nearly one-fifth of about 5 lakh entities locked in tax litigation with the government have opted for a dispute redressal scheme, helping settle around Rs 83,000 crore of contested amount, a top finance ministry official said on Sunday.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in her Budget for fiscal starting April 2020 announced a Vivad se Vishwas (VsV) Scheme to settle pending disputes relating to direct taxes. It was an attempt to release Rs 9.32 lakh crore blocked in approximately 4.8 lakh appeals pending at various appellate forums.

It is the new year and like every year, we list out all the important financial deadlines you should not miss in the new year - 2021. However, unlike previous years where there were not more than 10 important financial deadlines to remember, in 2021, there are about 16 deadlines and dates you should know about. This is because thanks to the novel coronavirus pandemic, many important financial deadlines have been extended well into 2021.

Here is a list of all the money-related deadlines and dates you should make a note of in your calendar for the year 2021.

1. January 10, 2021: ITR filing deadline for salaried individuals
If you still have not filed income tax return (ITR) for FY 2019-20, then you have time till January 10, 2021 to file it without paying any late filing fees. The government in a press release dated December 30, 2020, has extended the due date of filing ITR for those individuals who accounts are not required to be audited. Generally, these individuals file their tax return using ITR-1, ITR-2 or ITR-4 form, as applicable. Missing this deadline will cost you Rs 10,000 as a penalty.

Over 4.84 crore income tax returns (ITRs) for fiscal year 2019-20 have been filed till December 31, 2020, the Income Tax Department said on Friday. The government has extended the ITR filing deadline for individuals till January 10, and for companies till February 15.

“Over 4.84 crore Income Tax Returns for AY 2020-21 have already been filed till 31st of December, 2020,” the Income Tax Department tweeted.

The deadline for individuals to file ITRs for 2018-19 was August 31, 2019 and over 5.61 crore ITRs were filed.

An analysis of the data showed that filing of tax returns by individuals for 2019-20 has slowed in the current year, while filing by businesses and trusts have increased.

Over 2.65 crore ITR-1 have been filed till December 31, 2020, lower than the 3.09 crore filed till August 31, 2019.

Over 1.08 crore ITR-4 have been filed till December 31 as compared to 1.28 crore filed till August 31, 2019.

Returns in ITR-1 Sahaj are filed by individuals whose total income does not exceed Rs 50 lakh, while form ITR-4 Sugam is meant for individuals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) and firms (other than Limited Liability Partnership ) having a total income of up to Rs 50 lakh and having presumptive income from business and profession.

The Income-Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) on Wednesday expunged certain strong observations made against former Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry on his access to information with respect to Tata Trusts. The tribunal clarified that it had inadvertently failed to mention that the information furnished by Mistry was in response to an income-tax notice.

The tribunal's corrigendum comes after it made strong remarks against Mistry while restoring the tax exemption of the three major Tata Trusts.

The government has extended the deadline to file income tax return (ITR) for FY 2019-20 for most individuals from the current deadline of December 31, 2020, to January 10, 2021. The extension of the deadline is for those individuals whose accounts are not required to be audited and who usually file their income tax return using ITR-1 or ITR-4 forms, as applicable, as per the press release dated December 30, 2020.

This is the third time that the government has extended the deadline to file ITR - first from the normal deadline of July 31 to November 30, 2020, and then to December 31, 2020.

Over 4.15 crore taxpayers have already filed their income tax returns (ITR) for assessment year 2020-21 (FY2019-20) till December 26, the Income Tax Department said on Sunday.

As the deadline to file ITR by individuals nears, the tax department also urged people to file their ITR for assessment year (AY) 2020-21 early to avoid last minute rush.

“More than 4.15 crore Income Tax Returns for AY 2020-21 have already been filed till 26th of December, 2020. Hope you have filed yours too!,” the department tweeted.

This includes over 2.34 crore taxpayers filing ITR-1, over 89.89 lakh filing ITR-4, over 49.72 lakh ITR-3 and over 30.36 lakh filing ITR-2.

The deadline to file ITR by individual taxpayers for FY2019-20 ends on December 31, 2020, while the same for taxpayers whose accounts require to be audited is January 31, 2021.

The due date has been extended from July 31 and October 31, 2020, respectively in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As many as 3.97 crore taxpayers have already filed their income tax returns for assessment year (AY) 2020-21 (fiscal year 2019-20) till December 24, the Income Tax Department said on Friday.

“Over 3.97 crore Income Tax Returns have already been filed till 24th of December, 2020. Have you filed yours as yet? If not, please do it TODAY! File your Return of Income Tax & ….Relax!,” the department tweeted.

This includes 2.27 crore taxpayers filing ITR-1, 85.20 lakh filing ITR-4, 46.78 lakh ITR-3 and 28.74 lakh filing ITR-2.

The deadline to file I-T returns by individual taxpayers for the 2019-20 fiscal (AY 2020-21) ends on December 31, 2020, while the same for taxpayers whose accounts require to be audited is January 31, 2021.

As we move towards the last quarter of an exceptional financial year and several other countries step into their next financial year amidst the ‘new normal’, the OECD released last week a Guidance on the Transfer Pricing Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic (‘Guidance Note’). A critical aspect elucidated in the Guidance Note pertains to losses incurred by Multinational Enterprises (‘MNEs’) due to COVID-19.

What the Guidance Note lays down and how it impacts India

MNEs with operations in India are actively trying to fathom the risk of transfer pricing challenges in the wake of sudden changes in revenues, negative/low profitability, and the impact of unexpected costs incurred amidst the pandemic. Whether a limited risk-bearing entity can incur losses? Can intercompany agreements be renegotiated to address current challenges? Can costs incurred due to COVID 19 be considered exceptional? These are some of the nagging questions that OECD’s Guidance Note has sought to address.

India has challenged in Singapore an international arbitration court's verdict against it over a $2 billion tax claim involving Vodafone Group Plc , a senior government official told Reuters on Thursday on condition of anonymity.

Vodafone in September had won the case against India, ending one of the most high-profile disputes in the country that had caused concern among investors over retrospective tax claims on companies.

An international arbitration tribunal in The Hague had ruled that India's imposition of a tax liability on Vodafone was in a breach of an investment treaty agreement between India and the Netherlands. India had 90 days to appeal the ruling.

Direct tax professionals have sought extension for tax audit report, income tax returns for audit cases and time limit for AGMs in the wake of the ongoing pandemic scenario.

The Direct Taxes Professionals Association (DTPA) has urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for extension of date of furnishing of tax audit report under section 44AB to February 28 and the due date of filing of income tax returns of assessment year 2020-21 in audit cases to March, 31, 2021.


Due to the corona pandemic normalcy in operations is yet to set in. Even many professionals as well as their staff have suffered infection from Covid-19.

Therefore, there is need for extension of dates for furnishing tax audit reports and ITRs, DTPA president N K Goyal said in their recent submission to the government.

Cairn Energy Plc said Wednesday that it has won the arbitration against the Indian government over a tax dispute arising from demand of $1.2 billion from tax department on listing of Indian operations back in 2007.

The oil-major said that the tribunal had announced the award unanimously following which the Indian government will have to pay the UK-based company damages of $1.2 billion and interest.
"The tribunal established to rule on its claim against the Government of India has found in Cairn’s favour," Cairn Energy Plc said in a statement in response to a query from ET.

"The tribunal ruled unanimously that India had breached its obligations to Cairn under the UK-India Bilateral Investment Treaty and has awarded to Cairn damages of US$1.2billion plus interest and costs, which now becomes payable," the company added.

The Income Tax Department has introduced a 'Jhatpat Processing' initiative to ease the income tax return filing experience for taxpayers . The last date to file income tax returns (ITR) for the financial year 2019-20 (the assessment year 2020-21) is December 31, 2020.

The Income Tax (I-T) Department took to Twitter to announce that it has launched the 'Jhatpat Processing' feature. The I-T Department said that the feature has already been started for ITR-1 and 4 forms and taxpayers can file their I-T returns for AY 2020-21 by visiting the e-filing website -- incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.

The 'Jhatpat processing' feature will only be applicable to taxpayers whose ITRs are verified and bank accounts are pre-validated. Besides, there are no arrears or income discrepancy, or tax deducted at source (TDS) or challan mismatch.

The Central Board of Direct Taxed (CBDT) had extended the last date for filing ITR for FY 2019-20 (AY2020-21) to December 31 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CBDT said the deadlines have been extended in order to "provide more time to taxpayers for furnishing of Income Tax Returns".