Meeting with Chairman CBDT could not provide result, Taxmen are on agitation, strike. Revised Time Table for Dept. Exam 2010.

View Revised Exam Time Table


Circular No.29                                                                                    Dated: 30^th June, 2010

Dear Comrade,

            The representatives of the two Federations met the Chairman and other authorities of the Board on 28.06.2010. The Charter of demands in pursuance of which the Central JCA has declared to organize a STRIKE programme on15.07.2010 was discussed. The outcome of the discussion in brief is presented in the Central JCAs communiction in this regard. It could be seen that no tangible outcome has come about from the said meeting. The Central JCA met thereafter and decided to go ahead with the programme of action and formally served the Strike Notice on 29.06.2010. The Strike action is to be followed up with intensified agitations in the form of Non Cooperation with regard to Search and Seizure, Survey (including TDS enquiry, verification etc.) . We request you to kindly take all steps required for ensuring cent percent participations of our members in the strike action.

            With best wishes,

Yours fraternally,

(Ashok B Salunkhe)

Secretary General.

OUTCOME OF THE MEETING WITH CHAIRMAN, CBDT ON 28.06.2010   ON JCA'S CHARTER OF DEMANDS

1. Stop outsourcing. CPC must function strictly as per Agreement reached with JCA.

a.  The Board indicated to honour the agreement. However, it said that the problem emanating from the insufficiency of manpower especially in the cadre of Tax Assistants persists and wanted the JCA to address to the said issue.   No consensus could be reached on the issue except that the matter could be further discussed..

b. As regards caretaking staff, only the usual assurance was given that necessary instructions will be issued to the CCsIT to recruit the people locally  to fill up the  meagre vacancies. It was the contention of the Board that filling up of the existing vacancies in the erstwhile cadre of Group D would not resolve the issue in as much as the manpower requirement to carry out the functions is huge.  The Board was not in agreement with the proposal mooted by the Federations that till the Government sanctions necessary manpower, the local employment exchanges could be approached to provide persons on daily rated basis.

2. a. Reimburse Mobile phone charges to all employees in  the department.

What was being told to us during the last one year was repeated that the Board has approved the scheme and the file has gone to the Department of Expenditure and it is hoped that the approval of the Govt. will be coming soon.

 b. Sanction Laptops to all Gaz. Officers including newly promoted ITOs, AO,PS / Sr. PS on non-returnable basis.

LAPTOPS upto ITO was sanctioned with the approval of then FM. Now if it is to be given to AO & PS, Board was of the opinion that FM's approval was required and a suitable proposal with justification will be sent.

c. Provide Desktop computers to all Group C employees.

It was stated that necessary steps will be taken to get sanction for procuring required computers to be provided to all sections in the Department.

3. Publish Civil List without any further loss of time, on the lines it was issued till 2006. Publish seniority list of Group 'B' 'C' & 'D' employees as per Board's instructions on an annual basis.

Board was of the opinion that the matter was sub-judice due to some OAs filed by Direct Recruits in CAT and in which some promotees have also got impleaded. The matter will be studied and a decision will be taken.

As regards, Group C & D, necessary instruction will be issued by Board to CCIT(CCA) to publish seniority list as on 01^st January, every year.

4. Transfer DCIT / ACIT (who have completed 2 years cooling period and with spouse / medical / compassionate grounds, etc.).

Board stated that this will be possible only at the time of promotion  from ITO to ACIT and consequent transfer.

5. Fill up all vacant posts in the Department.

Board is trying to decentralize the recruitment process for IT Dept. In this direction a committee has already been constituted.

6. Conduct DPC for ACIT for RY 2009-10 immediately and Start the work for RY2010-11, DPC for DCIT as on 01/01/2010 and DPC for Jt. CIT for IRS of 2000 & 2001 batch.

The Official side stated the oft-repeated statement that the date for  DPC for ACIT will be obtained from the UPSC during the month of July.  No firm commitment of the date and effecting promotion was brought in the meeting. As regards, DCIT to JCIT – UPSC has rejected Board's proposal for Ad-hoc promotion. The balance ACRs which are below bench-mark will be corrected by the end of July, with active follow-up from the Board and then a proposal for regular DPC will be sent to UPSC, who have stated to give an early date.

As for ACIT to DCIT as on 01.01.2010 – There is a deficiency of around 90 ACRs , which again has been put-up in the official website. 

7. Resolve Pay Anomalies arising out of 6^th CPC & Grant Grade pay of Rs.4,800/- to Private Secretaries and Administrative officers.

8. After 4 Years of service ITO, AO, PS & Sr. PS must be placed in PB-3 with Grade Pay of Rs. 5400.

a. Anomaly between direct recruit & promotee in various grades of staff, a letter has already been sent to Dept. of Expenditure as required by the ITEF.

b. As regards GP of 4800 to AO & PS & 5400 after 4 years in PB-3 to ITO/AO/PS & Sr.PS, a proposal with proper justification will be sent to Dept. of Expenditure.

9. Implement the cadre composition as suggested by ITEF based on 6^thCPC report.

The Staff Side brought to the notice of the chairman that the issue was discussed with the DG(HRD) more than two times but no progress has been registered .  The DG (HRD) promised to finalise the matter shortly and place the proposal before the board. Copy of the proposal so placed before the Board  would be given to the ITEFand its views taken into consideration before the issue is finalised.

10. Honour the agreement with JCA on the Departmental Exams.

No finality has reached on this subject.  The response of the Board is that further discussion is necessary on this issue between ITEF and DG (admn).

11. Dispose of all vigilance cases pending beyond one year.

Board stated that of late, no vigilance cases are being initiated in the last 6 months of one's career, except in exceptional cases, where CBI or CVC has given any direction/advice. Instruction for expediting the pending cases will be issued by Board.

12. Expedite the proposals submitted by Cadre Review Committee in toto.

The JCA made it clear that though the proposal by the Committee constituted for this purpose was submitted to the Board  way back in July 2009, the formal proposal to the Govt. has not been submitted by the Board.  The Stand of the Board is that another committee to draft the final proposal has been formed and the work is in progress.

From the above it will be seen that there is no preparedness on the part of CBDT to redress the genuine & just demands of promotee officers and staff of I.T. Dept.

Therefore, JCA is left with no alternative but to continue with our agitational programme including one day's token strike on 15/07/2010 for which a strike notice has already been served on the CBDT. Further, intensification of agitation in the form of Non-cooperation with regard to Search & Survey (including TDS verification/education etc will commence  from 20/07/2010.

Source : ITEF

eFilers can now view own TDS Credit.

New facility added in "My Account" for registered E-filers to View the Tax Credit Statement (Form 26AS) to verify if the tax payments made by you or TDS deducted from salary or interest etc are correctly reported to the Department.


View for details

Dos and Dont's for printing and submitting of ITR-Vs to

ITD-CPC Bangalore

1. Please use Ink Jet /Laser printer to print the ITR-V Form.
2. Avoid printing on Dot Matrix printer.
3. The ITR-V Form should be printed only in black ink.
4. Do not use any other ink option to print ITR V.
5. Ensure that print out is clear and not light print/faded copy.
6. Please do not print any water marks on ITR-V. The only permissible watermark is that of "Income tax Department" which is printed automatically on each ITR-V.
7. The document that is mailed to CPC should be signed in original in BLUE INK.
8. Photocopy of signatures will not be accepted.
9. The signatures or any handwritten text should not be written on Bar code.
10. Bar code and numbers below barcode should be clearly visible.
11. Only A4 size white paper should be used.
12. Avoid typing anything at the back of the paper.
13. Perforated paper or any other size paper should be avoided.
14. Do not use stapler on ITR V acknowledgement.
15. In case you are submitting original and revised returns, do not print them back to back. Use two separate papers for printing ITR-Vs separately.
16. More than one ITR-V can be sent in the same envelope.
17. Please do not submit any annexures, covering letter, pre stamped envelopes etc. along with ITR-V.
18. The ITR-V form is required to be sent to Post Bag No.1, Electronic City Post Office, Bengaluru, Karnataka-560100, by ordinary post or speedpost.
19. ITR-Vs that do not conform to the above specifications may get rejected or acknowledgement of receipt may get delayed.

By Courtesy : Income Tax Dept.

New Tax Code : Modified version released : Savings safe in revisions that promise breathers, Home Loan interest remains exempted.

Salary-earners worried about retirement can let out an “EEE” in glee.

The Centre has dropped a proposal to tax pension savings while withdrawing the money on maturity.

This means it will continue with the policy of EEE (exempt, exempt, exempt) at all three stages of savings and will not opt for a proposed EET (exempt, exempt and tax at withdrawal).

The modification was announced in revisions to a direct tax code the Centre proposes to implement from next year. The revised code has promised several other sops to the middle class.

The tax code, which will be introduced in Parliament in the coming monsoon session, is expected to simplify tax rules, raise tax slabs and lift the ceiling for tax-free savings to Rs 3 lakh from Rs 1.6 lakh now. If all these promises are fulfilled, the total outgo for the salaried class will go down.

The plan to tax the savings at the last stage had sent shivers down the spine of those who were saving for post-retirement. The modifications suggest that the government did pay attention to the sense of disquiet.

Revenue secretary Sunil Mitra said: “We prepared the revised discussion paper on the basis of some 1,600 comments and suggestions we received.”

A realisation by tax collectors that EET would mean huge increase in paperwork also played a part in its burial.

The revised paper, too, will be open to changes based on suggestions which people can send over the next 15 days, the secretary said.

The comment box can be accessed on the Internet on the site finmin.nic.in. If a user clicks on “new discussion paper related to direct taxes code” in the update box, the comment box can be reached.

Source : The Telegraph.


View the proposed Revised Tax Code

Income Tax Welfare Fund with a Corpus of Rs.100 Crore Operationalised after 12 Years

Finance Minister asks CBDT to Address the Issue of Unwanted Litigation with Taxpayers and Realise Locked up Revenue in Appeals 

Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee announced the operationalisation of the income tax welfare fund which was pending since 1998. The fund has a corpus of Rs.100crore and will be available for welfare activities of the employees of the income tax department. The finance Minister made this announcement while addressing the Annual Conference of Chief Commissioners and Director Generals of Income Tax, here today. The Finance Minister also announced that in order to upgrade the skills of the IRS officers, an advance mid-career training programme for them would be started during the current year. This will equip officers to face challenges dealing with complex international transactions and fight menace of tax avoidance schemes using tax havens and low tax jurisdiction.The Finance Minister also asked CBDT to ensure deployment of human resources in consonance with requirement of the tax laws. In this regard, he specifically asked for timely completion of exercise of cadre restructuring and hold regular departmental promotional committee (DPC) as per the DoPT calendar. The Finance Minister advocated the need to focus on preventive vigilance and adopt a strategy for zero tolerance for corruption. He asked CBDT to set up a Committee to examine the vigilance practices and procedures in few select countries. The experience of other countries can be used to streamline and strengthen the vigilance administration in Income Tax department. In order to provide the services to the taxpayers of desired quality, the Finance Minister stressed that the same become technology driven. For the current year, the Finance Minister asked senior officers of the income tax department to exceed the target of direct tax collection at Rs. 4,30,000 crore in the Budget estimates. He asked the department to adopt special strategy to monitor TDS compliance at the District level, State level and at Central level. 

In the end, the Finance Minister expressed his concerns over the rising litigation with the taxpayers and the quantum of revenue locked in appeals. He stated that taxpayers should be encouraged to Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) which has emerged as a preferred alternate dispute resolution mechanism. He asked CBDT to come out with a comprehensive proposal to address the issue of unwanted litigation with taxpayers and also to realise locked up revenue in appeals. 

Following is the complete text of the Finance Minister’s speech:- 

“Direct Taxes, now the major resource provider to the Central Government, have grown at an average annual rate of 24 percent in the last five years and have nearly trebled from Rs.1,32,771 crore in financial year 2004-05 to about Rs.3,78,000 crore in financial year 2009-10, increasing its share from 4.1 percent to 6.1 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This tremendous growth has been made possible not only due to rationalisation of tax structure and improvement in tax administration leading to better tax compliance, but also persistent and unrelenting efforts of employees of theIncome Tax department. 

To improve compliance further, tax laws need to be simple, stable and robust; tax rates should remain moderate; and multiplicity of tax exemptions and deductions should be gradually phased out in order to widen and deepen the tax base. Tax administration needs to be further toned up by appropriate use of technology on the one hand, and improving professional competence and responsiveness of the employees on the other. 

A major tax reform initiative has already been announced in the proposed ‘Direct Taxes Code 2009’ to simplify, rationalize and consolidate the laws and procedure, relating to direct taxes. Its draft is under revision, taking into consideration the areas of concern expressed by various stakeholders, and the discussion paper will be shortly in the public domain before introduction in Parliament in the forthcoming monsoon session. It will indeed be legislation for the 21st century, which will witness the emergence of an economically strong and vibrant India. I anticipate that the new code will usher in major changes in procedures and practices of Direct Tax. The Department, therefore, needs to draw a roadmap for administratively meeting the challenges and the changes that will be introduced by the new Code. The Human Resource Directorate of the Department should draw up plans for training in cooperation with tax training institutes for capacity building for implementation of theDirect Tax Code. The transition from existing law to DTC would require completion of delegated legislation in a time bound manner. CBDT should ensure smooth transition by planning the activities schedule well in advance. 

Growth in international trade and commerce driven by globalisation is throwing up new and complex challenges. Globalization offers a global market for product and services but at the same time it also poses challenges. The recent financial crisis has shown how an economic difficulty of one country can get exported to other countries. Similarly, the development of tax shelter products and use of tax havens is another challenge which emanates from globalization. In our response to global challenges we have set up two Income Tax Overseas Units (ITOUs) within Indian Missions in Singapore and Mauritius to facilitate exchange of information. Eight more such units in USA, UK, Netherlands, Japan, Cyprus, Germany, France and UAE are also being created on similar lines. I am hopeful that these measures would result in seamless flow of tax related information from foreign tax jurisdictions and would strengthen our fight against menace of tax evasion using cross border transactions . 

The department needs to improve its infrastructure to match global standards of delivery of taxpayer services. The effective roll out of Sevottam and Aayakar Sewa Kendra (ASK) would require adequate infrastructure. It is necessary to make the infrastructure state-of-the art to improve the working environment and to make a visit to the tax office a pleasant experience. Processing of tax returns, now done on the National Computer Network, has to be made more efficient. Towards this, two more Centralized Processing Centres (CPCs) at Pune and Manesar should be set up expeditiously. Efforts should be made to further popularise and increase electronic filing of tax returns and electronic payment of taxes to reduce paper-work and make taxpayer services environmentally friendly. The scope of Large Taxpayer Units (LTUs), presently operational in four metropolitan cities, needs to be expanded for deepening of tax base as well as for centralized services to large taxpayers.

While taxpayer services have improved there are still large numbers of taxpayer grievances, including grievances relating to tax refunds and credit of TDS, which need to be attended on urgent basis. At the systemic level CBDT should ensure that Directorate of Systems take immediate steps to streamline the issue of credit of TDS. Apart from systemic changes, the grievance redressal mechanism including Ombudsman need to be integrated and streamlined. A holistic approach needs to be developed to cater to the rising expectations of taxpayers. The CBDT should immediately come up with a comprehensive and net-based grievance redressal mechanism in line with the best global practices. 

A number of services offered by the department have become technology driven. It may not be possible to deliver the services of desired quality in the existing structure of tax administration. CBDT may come out with a new structure, which leads to faster adoption of technology and innovation. The CBDT may, therefore, consider hiving off its technology driven taxpayer services to a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which can better deliver such services in the public-private-partnership mode. This will lead to innovation in delivery of services to taxpayers and also involvement of public in delivering the services. 

For the current financial year, the direct tax collection target has been fixed in the Budget Estimates at Rs.4,30,000 crore at a growth of 13.7 percent over the actual collection last year. We have deliberately called this conference in the beginning of the financial year to deliberate strategies and draw action plan to achieve this target. Apart from concentrating on big cities and towns, Department should also look to smaller towns and cities for widening of tax base. The smaller towns and centres have emerged as centres of growth due to inclusive growth agenda of Government. Department may also develop special strategies to monitor TDS compliance at the District level, state level and at Central level. 

The GDP is poised to grow at 8.5 percent during 2010-11. Sectors of the economy performing well should be monitored for tax compliance and we should get our due taxes. The department should also make attempts to widen and deepen the tax-base further. It should improve utilization of information relating to high value transactions available through Annual Information Returns (AIR), Central Information Branches (CIB) and other sources. Using multisource data, Department should refine risk profiling of taxpayers and assessments and investigations should be carried out accordingly. Using this intelligence data department should develop credible deterrence for taxpayers, who are habitual tax evaders. 

Skills of the personnel working in the department need constant up gradation in view of changing tax regulations, technology and global economic environment. Though I find that the CBDT has taken some steps in this direction through Knowledge Management by yearly publication of the book titled “Let us Share”, containing the best orders and practices, yet further steps need to be expeditiously taken in its training and skill up gradation programmes adopting the best global practices. I understand that CBDT is already providing exposure to probationers at NADT about international practices through international attachments. This has to be taken forward by suitably designing mid-career training programmes for officers at regular intervals. This will equip officers to face challenges of dealing with complex international transactions and menace of tax avoidance schemes using tax havens and low tax jurisdictions. This will also help us in getting our due share of taxes especially from cross border transactions. 

I am happy to announce that Advanced Mid-Career Training Programme (AMCTP) for IRS officers would be started during the current year. 

A satisfied work force is the backbone and strength of an organization. We have modified the transfer policy for the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers to improve satisfaction levels and minimise unwarranted service litigation with our own employees. The Standing Committee on Finance, in its report for 2009-10, has expressed concern about shortages of manpower in the Department. This needs to be addressed urgently, especially in the face of the exponentially increasing workload, and the challenges of maximising revenue generation along with efficient taxpayer service. I am told that cadre restructuring of CBDT is pending for quite some time, which has adversely affected the implementation of core areas of work in the Income Tax department. The tax laws can be implemented effectively by aligning the tax administration with the intent of tax policy. If there is a mismatch, then it may be difficult to implement a tax policy, however good it may be. CBDT should ensure that deployment of human resources is in consonance with requirement of the tax laws and this should be ensured by completing the timely exercise of cadre restructuring and by holding regular departmental promotional committee (DPC) as per the DoPT calendar. In the long term, we should aim for Human Resource policy which is, conducive for specialisation, promotes administrative innovation, provides equal opportunity and keeps employees in high state of motivation. 

In the last year’s conference, I had emphasised the need for expediting vigilance matters. I find that though there is improvement, the progress is not at the desired levels. More focussed approach with proper adherence to prescribed time-lines is needed to expedite vigilance matters. I want to see that no charge sheets are filed against our own employees at the last day of retirement after more than 30 years of service to Government. We should ensure that guilty is punished but at the same time ensuring that those who have performed their duties and victims of frivolous complaints should be adequately protected. Department need to focus on preventive vigilance and adopt a strategy for zero tolerance for corruption. CBDT should set up a committee to examine the vigilance practices and procedures in few select countries. The experience of other countries can be used to streamline and strengthen the vigilance administration in Income Tax department. 

The rising litigation with the taxpayers and the quantum of revenue locked in appeals is a matter of serious concern. The strengthening of Settlement Commission, setting up Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP) may address the litigation issues with the taxpayers to some extent. I am told that under mutual agreement procedure (MAP) negotiations under Indo-USA DTAA a tax demand of Rs.800 crore in 48 cases has been confirmed. This is a good development and tax-payers should be encouraged to invoke MAP, which has emerged as a preferred alternate dispute resolution mechanism. In spite of these efforts, we need to develop more strategies to reduce the litigation with the taxpayers. I would like CBDT to come out with a comprehensive proposal to address the issue of unwanted litigation with taxpayers and also to realise locked up revenue in appeals. 

Before I close, I am happy to announce the operationalisation of the Income Tax Welfare Fund, which was pending since 1998. The Fund has a corpus of Rs.100 crore kept in interest-bearing deposit. The interest earned annually on this deposit, and other annual accruals to the Fund, will be available for welfare activities of employees of the Income Tax department. I am sure that CBDT will come out with innovative welfare measures, which will further motivate employees of the Department to excel in their area of work. 

I wish this Annual Conference a great success. I would be looking forward to the outcomes of the deliberations.”