Demand for re examination for ITO - Paper IV

 It is reported that the Dept. Exam for ITOs Paper IV was too complicated and lengthy and a part of the question is simply copied from CA Final examination. The blog did not check the authenticity of this claim. However , it is demanded from many employees  that as the question paper is not as per the standard, the examination should be scrapped and re examination should take place.

Posting from diverted charges to ReAC : Entry in Service Book

 A lot of confusions are there regarding relinquishment and assumption of charges due to recent diversion of posts to ReACs.

To remove the ambiguity, CIT (Admin & TPS), Kolkata has come out with a sample entry in service book to familiarize the concerned authority.

Click here to view the sample entry

Extension of adhoc appoinments of JCsIT

 Ad hoc appointments of JCsIT has been extended upto 31.12.2020.

Order

Retrurn filing date extended for the AY 2019-20

 CBDT notified in a press release about extension of time limit for filing of revised and belated return for the A.Y. 2019-20 upto 30th November 2020.

Click here to view the notification

Admit Cards can be downloaded for ITI and ITOs' Dept. Exam 2020

 It is reported that Admit Cards for the Departmental Exam for ITI and ITOs can be downloaded now.

Click the link below and enter your particulars to download Admit Card.

Download Admit Card

Online Course on Faceless Assessment

 Update : It is informed that the course described below is only meant for PCsIT and CCsIT posted in ReAC.

No officer below the ranks mentioned above may join the webinar.

Therefore, the joining link is being deleted from this blog.

DTRTI Delhi is going to conduct online training on Faceless Assessment on 28th and 29th September 2020 to familiarize the Assessing Officers and others with the new concept.

Vide communication dated 23.09.2020 it is mandatory for all new officers posted in ReAC to join the webinar.

Webinar Course on "FACELESS ASSESSMENT SCHEME" for officers in ReAC and NeAC  : Part-I 

Hosted by Ranu Mukharjee

Monday, Sep 28, 2020 11:00 am | 3 hours 15 minutes | (UTC+05:30) Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi

Agenda: 28.09.2020

11 A.M to 12.30 P.M : Introduction to the Faceless Assessment Scheme and its complete architecture by Sh.Ashish Abrol,CIT,NeAC

12.30 to 2.0 PM : Familiarization of work profile of Assessment Unit and Verification Unit in ReAC by Sh.Lakshmi Narayan,JCIT,AU-4(1),Delhi  

Faceless Appeals launched by CBDT

 The Income Tax Department today launched Faceless Income Tax Appeals. Under Faceless Appeals, all Income Tax appeals will be finalised in a faceless manner under the faceless ecosystem with the exception of appeals relating to serious frauds, major tax evasion, sensitive & search matters, International tax and Black Money Act. Necessary Gazette notification has also been issued today (25/09/2020).

It may be noted that Hon’ble PM on 13th August, 2020 while launching the Faceless Assessment and Taxpayers’ Charter as part of “Transparent Taxation - Honoring the Honest” platform, had announced launching of Faceless Appeals on 25th September, 2020 on the birth anniversary of Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayay. Also, in recent years the Income Tax Department has carried out several reforms in Direct Taxes for the simplification of tax processes and for ease of compliance for the taxpayers.

Under the Faceless Appeals, from now on, in income tax appeals, everything from e-allocation of appeal, e-communication of notice/ questionnaire, e-verification/e-enquiry to e-hearing and finally e-communication of the appellate order, the entire process of appeals will be online, dispensing with the need for any physical interface between the appellant and the Department. There will be no physical interface between the taxpayers or their counsel/s and the Income Tax Department. The taxpayers can make submissions from the comfort of their home and save their time and resources.

The Faceless Appeals system will include allocation of cases through Data Analytics and AI under the dynamic jurisdiction with central issuance of notices which would be having Document Identification Number (DIN). As part of dynamic jurisdiction, the draft appellate order will be prepared in one city and will be reviewed in some other city resulting in an objective, fair and just order. The Faceless Appeal will provide not only great convenience to the taxpayers but will also ensure just and fair appeal orders and minimise any further litigation. The new system will also be instrumental in imparting greater efficiency, transparency and accountability in the functioning of the Income Tax Department.

As per data with CBDT, as on date there is a pendency of almost 4.6 lakh appeals at the level of the Commissioner (Appeals) in the Department. Out of this, about 4.05 lakh appeals, i.e., about 88 % of the total appeals will be handled under the Faceless Appeal mechanism and almost 85% of the present strength of Commissioners (Appeals) shall be utilised for disposing off the cases under the Faceless Appeal mechanism.

Source : Press Information Bureau.

Whether ITO promotion is loosing it's sheen ?

 To be an Income Tax Officer had been a dream to many of the young officials of the department. Every year thousands of employees prepare themselves for departmental exams to fulfill their ambition to be a gazetted officer of the department. 

Recently we have noticed some deviation to this trend. Some Inspectors are refusing promotion to the post of ITOs. In this month as many as six Inspectors in Bengaluru declined to get promoted in one go. It is quite unprecedented.

Now, the question is, why this is happening ? To be an ITO from clerical level needs to qualify three departmental exams and at least 15 to 20 years of waiting. Still everybody after qualifying is not accepting the promotion. One of the reason may be the poor increase in remuneration against inviting a lot of responsibility. After the introduction of MACP scheme, to get a promotion or not matters little in term of monetary benefit. The promotional benefit is also reduced now. If an Inspector gets promoted to ITO, he looses Petrol Allowance and invites the possibility of being transferred out of the metropolis and thus getting his HRA reduced. What he will earn instead ? A huge burden of responsibility and effectively less take home pay at the beginning. In the present scenario of  faceless assessment, the workload may not be anticipated right now.

So the time has come to take steps to get the benefits and perks revised to the officer. Otherwise in the long run there will be very less people available to be promoted to the once prize post, and remember ITOs can not be recruited but have to be promoted.

Physical hearing under faceless assessment scheme ?

 The Income Tax department is framing rules to enable physical hearing in case there is addition, either in tax or income, for taxpayers under the faceless assessment scheme, a senior official said.

“Wherever there is addition proposed - either to income or tax - a showcause notice will be issued and final opportunity will be given to taxpayers and reply will be taken into consideration,” SK Gupta, member of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), said during a webinar on Wednesday. 

“If physical hearing through video conferencing is required, we can allow that; the rules are being made,” he said, referring to the government’s recent reforms related to faceless tax assessment.

Gupta added that the process of issuing penalties on a faceless basis was in the works, and would be brought into effect once faceless appeals – to be launched from Sep 25 – gets off the ground and teething troubles are settled.

Guidelines for physical verification are also being framed within faceless assessment since there have been cases where the taxpayer’s premises have not been traceable or where the taxpayer was not replying to communication from the department, he said.

The jurisdiction of the assessee’s location will be used instead of the tax authority’s location in cases where the authorities need to refer to a position of law, Gupta clarified when asked about the rule that the assessing officer will follow in faceless assessments since assessees and taxpayers are not in the same geographical location.

India introduced faceless tax assessments on a pilot basis in October 2019, taking up about 58,000 cases.

However, of those selected, there was no response from taxpayers in over 22,000 cases, which was a worrying trend, Gupta said.

“In over 13,000 cases, orders have been passed and in less than 500 cases show cause notices have been issued, but in over 22,000 cases no response has been received, and in fact in 6,000 cases emails have bounced back,” he said.

Gupta requested the corporate sector as well as taxpayers to respond to emails and text messages by the tax department, saying taxpayers should not block emails from the department and provide the latest contact information – including mobile phone numbers – to enable smooth assessments.

“We have decided yesterday that we may send postal or hard copy letters to taxpayers to educate on this issue in a centralised manner,” he added.

In the transformation to faceless assessment,  about 53% of the 40,000 income tax officers will be involved across assessment, technical and legal units.

Although there has been some discomfort among tax officers regarding the change, Gupta said that officers were being brought on board through training and awareness programmes.

Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/income-tax-dept-framing-rules-to-enable-physical-hearing-under-faceless-assessment-scheme/articleshow/78163633.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

The blog is live again !

 We sincerely apologize the inconvenience caused to our readers, well wishers and most importantly the Income Tax family as we could not update the blog for a long time.

In the meantime the department's normal functioning was deeply hampered due to lockdown and pandemic. But the Govt. has made historical reform in this period. Assessment has been made completely faceless. Even the ongoing assessments have been taken to the new domain. 

One of the coercive measure, "Survey" has been deleted from most of the Income Tax authorities. Only Intl. Taxation, TDS and Investigation wings are empowered to carry on survey and that too in a very limited window.

The complete hierarchy is changed. Most of the officers and staff  have been diverted in ReAC and NeAC. The new charges are yet to set up and the assessment function is completely stalled now.

We invite comments from our esteemed readers about the change, it's pros and cons. 

We will inform you any new happenings in the regard as before.

Thank you for being with us and hope your cooperation in the future.

Will Income Tax offices reopen on 20th April 2020 ?

To answer this question, let us read the developments about this matter.
Click here to view relevant orders and news.

Relief in Income Tax Matters for Corona Virus

Finance Minister announces several relief measures relating to Statutory and Regulatory compliance matters across Sectors in view of COVID-19 outbreak

The Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Niramla Sitharaman today announced several important relief measures taken by the Government of India in view of COVID-19 outbreak, especially on statutory and regulatory compliance matters related to several sectors. While addressing the press conference through video conferencing here today, Smt. Sitharaman announced much-needed relief measures in areas of Income Tax, GST, Customs & Central Excise, Corporate Affairs, Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC) Fisheries, Banking Sector and Commerce.

The Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs Shri Anurag Singh Thakur was also present besides Shri A.B. Pandey, Finance Secretary and Shri Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs.

Following are the decisions with respect to statutory and regulatory compliance matters related to various sectors: —

Income Tax

1. Extend last date for income tax returns for (FY 18-19) from 31st March, 2020  to  30th June, 2020.
2. Aadhaar-PAN linking date to be extended from 31st March, 2020 to 30th June, 2020.
3. Vivad se Vishwas  scheme – no additional 10% amount, if payment made by June 30, 2020.
4.  Due dates for  issue  of notice, intimation, notification, approval order, sanction order, filing of appeal, furnishing of return, statements, applications, reports, any other documents and time limit for completion of proceedings by the authority and any compliance by the taxpayer including investment in saving instruments or investments for roll over benefit of capital gains   under Income Tax Act,  Wealth Tax Act, Prohibition of Benami Property Transaction Act, Black Money Act,  STT law, CTT Law, Equalization Levy law, Vivad Se Vishwas  law  where the time limit is expiring between 20th March 2020  to 29th June 2020 shall be extended to 30th June 2020.  
5. For delayed payments of advanced tax, self-assessment tax,  regular tax, TDS, TCS, equalization levy,  STT, CTT  made between 20th March 2020  and  30th June 2020,  reduced interest rate  at 9%   instead of 12 %/18 % per annum ( i.e. 0.75% per month instead of 1/1.5 percent per month) will be charged  for this period.  No late fee/penalty shall be charged for delay relating to this period.
6. Necessary legal circulars and legislative amendments for giving effect to the aforesaid relief shall be issued in due course.

GST/Indirect Tax

1. Those having aggregate annual turnover less than Rs. 5 Crore Last date can file  GSTR-3B due in March, April and May 2020  by the last week of  June, 2020. No interest, late fee, and penalty to be charged.
2. Others can file returns due in March, April and May 2020 by last week of June 2020  but the same would attract reduced rate of interest @9 % per annum from  15 days after due date (current interest rate is  18 % per annum). No late fee and penalty to be charged, if complied before till 30th June 2020.
3. Date for opting for composition scheme is extended till the last week of   June, 2020.  Further, the last date for making payments for the quarter ending 31st March, 2020 and filing of  return for 2019-20 by the composition dealers  will be extended  till the last week of June, 2020. 
4. Date for filing GST annual returns of FY 18-19, which is due on 31st March, 2020 is extended till the last week of  June 2020.
5. Due date for issue of notice, notification, approval order, sanction order, filing of appeal, furnishing of return, statements, applications, reports, any other documents, time limit for any compliance under the GST laws where the time limit is expiring between 20th March 2020  to 29th June 2020 shall be extended to 30th June 2020. 
6. Necessary legal circulars and legislative amendments to give effect  to the aforesaid GST relief shall follow with the approval of GST Council.
7. Payment date under Sabka Vishwas Scheme shall be extended to 30th June, 2020. No interest for this period shall be charged if paid by 30th June, 2020.

Customs

8. 24X7 Custom clearance till end of 30th June, 2020
9. Due date for issue of notice, notification, approval order, sanction order, filing of appeal, furnishing applications, reports, any other documents etc., time limit for any compliance under the Customs Act and other allied Laws where the time limit is expiring between 20th March 2020  to 29th June 2020 shall be extended to 30th June 2020. 

Financial Services

1. Relaxations for 3 months
   • Debit cardholders to withdraw cash for free from any other banks’ ATM for 3 months
   • Waiver of minimum balance fee
   • Reduced bank charges for digital trade transactions for all trade finance consumers

Corporate Affairs

1. No additional fees shall be charged for late filing during a moratorium period from 01st April to 30th September 2020, in respect of any document, return, statement etc., required to be filed in the MCA-21 Registry, irrespective of its due date, which will not only reduce the compliance burden, including financial burden of companies/ LLPs at large, but also enable long-standing non-compliant companies/ LLPs to make a ‘fresh start’;
2. The mandatory requirement of holding meetings of the Board of the companies within prescribed interval provided in the Companies Act (120 days), 2013, shall be extended by a period of 60 days till next two quarters i.e., till 30th September;
3. Applicability of Companies (Auditor’s Report) Order, 2020 shall be made applicable from the financial year 2020-2021 instead of from 2019-2020 notified earlier. This will significantly ease the burden on companies & their auditors for the year 2019-20.
4. As per Schedule 4 to the Companies Act, 2013, Independent Directors are required to hold at least one meeting without the attendance of Non-independent directors and members of management. For the year 2019-20, if the IDs of a company have not been able to hold even one meeting, the same shall not be viewed as a violation.
5. Requirement to create a Deposit reserve of 20% of deposits maturing during the financial year 2020-21 before 30th April 2020 shall be allowed to be complied with till 30th June 2020.
6. Requirement to invest 15% of debentures maturing during a particular year in specified instruments before 30th April 2020, may be done so before 30th June 2020.
7. Newly incorporated companies are required to file a declaration for Commencement of Business within 6 months of incorporation. An additional time of 6 more months shall be allowed.
8. Non-compliance of minimum residency in India for a period of at least 182 days by at least one director of every company, under Section 149 of the Companies Act, shall not be treated as a violation.
9. Due to the emerging financial distress faced by most companies on account of the large-scale economic distress caused by COVID 19, it has been decided to raise the threshold of default under section 4 of the IBC 2016 to Rs 1 crore (from the existing threshold of Rs 1 lakh). This will by and large prevent triggering of insolvency proceedings against MSMEs. If the current situation continues beyond 30th of April 2020, we may consider suspending section 7, 9 and 10 of the IBC 2016 for a period of 6 months so as to stop companies at large from being forced into insolvency proceedings in such force majeure causes of default.
10. Detailed notifications/circulars in this regard shall be issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs separately.

Department of Fisheries

1. All Sanitary Permits (SIPs) for import of SPF Shrimp Broodstock and other Agriculture inputs expiring between 01.03.2020 to     15.04.2020 extended by 3 months
2. Delay upto 1 month in arrival of consignments to be condoned.
3. Rebooking of quarantine cubicles for cancelled consignments in Aquatic Quarantine Facility (AQF) Chennai without additional booking charges
4. The verification of documents and grant of NOC for Quarantine would be relaxed from 7 days to 3 days

Department of Commerce

Extension of timelines for various compliance and procedures will be given. Detailed notifications will be issued by Ministry of Commerce.

Committee to review inter charge transfer policy

A ten member committee formed to review and analyze inter charge transfer policy of Group C officials and asked to submit it's report within three months.
Click her for details

Inter Charge Transfer Update

Ad hoc promotions : CBDT clarifies

For the past few years, Dept. is promoting it's officials in ad hoc basis. Only in the case of ACITs and ITOs (in some cases) the tenure of this ad hoc appointment is being extended but in all other cadres, nothing is being done either to extend the ad hoc tenure or regularization of promotion. This creates immense trouble in case of retirees, they are being denied of any retirement benefit out of this promotion. Surprisingly the service associations are quite reluctant in this matter. Only ITGOA sometime take up this issue only for promotee ACITs but not for the ITOs ! ITEF is totally silent in this issue. Recently CBDT has come up with the following O.M. which is self explanatory.

Result of Departmental Examinations -2019 for ITIs

➢ ITI BETTERMENT NEW PATTERN RESULT 2019

➢ ITI PARTIALLY QUALIFIED RESULT 2019

➢ ITI BETTERMENT NEW PATTERN RESULT 2019

➢ ITI BETTERMENT OLD PATTERN RESULT 2019

DPC Update

Result of Departmental Examinations -2019 for ITOs

➢ ITO NORMAL OF NEW PATTERN 2019 RESULT

➢ ITO PARTIALLY QUALIFIED 2019 RESULT

➢ ITO BETTERMENT NEW PATTERN RESULT 2019

FM to inaugurate National e-Assessment Centre of Income Tax Department Tomorrow

The Income Tax Department is ushering in a paradigm shift in its working by introducing faceless e-assessment to impart greater efficiency, transparency and accountability in the assessment process. There would be no physical interface between the tax payers and the tax officers.

The setting up of National e-Assessment Centre (NeAC) of the Income Tax Department is a momentous step towards the larger objectives of better taxpayer service, reduction of taxpayer grievances in line with Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Digital India’ and promotion of ease of doing business.

Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman will inaugurate  National e-Assessment Centre ( NeAC)  in New Delhi tomorrow in the presence of  Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs . Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary, Shri Pramod Chandra Mody, Chairman, CBDT will also be present .  Officers of the Income Tax Department and other dignitaries shall also be linked through Multimedia Video Conferencing at Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune and Bengaluru.

Under the new system, tax payers have received notices on their registered emails as well as on registered accounts on the web portal www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in with real time alert by way of SMS on their registered mobile number, specifying the issues for which their cases have been selected for scrutiny. The replies to the notices can be prepared at ease by the tax payers at their own residence or office and be sent by email to the National e-Assessment Centre by uploading the same on the designated web portal.

This is another initiative by CBDT in the field of ease of compliance for our tax payers.

Extension of assessment in OCM cases

CBDT extended deadline to 31st December 2019 for assessment of OCM cases.

Click here to view the CBDT letter from ITGOA WB site

NO PLAN TO REDUCE CENTRAL EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT AGE

Click here for details

Re- scheduling of Dept. Exam 2019

Revised result of ITOs' & ITIs' Exam is available

Revised Result of Departmental Examinations-2018 for ITOs


Revised Result of Departmental Examinations-2018 for ITIs

Consequent to the revised result, the last date of submission of online application for the above two exams has been extended till 14.06.2019

NRP order with prospective effect, seniority to be revised

According to the latest order from CBDT dated 27.05.2019, implementation of N.R Parmar order to be done with prospective effect from the date of judgement of Supreme Court (27.11.2012).
All regions have conducted review DPCs with retrospective effect are being nullified and the seniority list before the date of judgement is to be restored.

Click here for the CBDT Order Dated 27.05.2019

Adhoc ACITs for the vacancy year 2014-15 regularised

The President is pleased to appoint the following officers in the grade of Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax (ACIT) against the vacancy year 2014-15 in Level-10 of the Pay Matrix Rs. 56100-177500/- on regular basis with immediate effect or until further order on in situ basis:- 

Click here for the order

Laptop for ITOs and above to be procured centrally

Online APAR submission : Due Date extended

The last date for filing Online APAR submission by Group A(IRS Officers) and ITOs in HRMS module has been extended to 30th June 2019.
Click here to view details

Dept. Exam for Inspectors' and ITOs' 2019 : Notification issued

Above Dept. Examinations will commence from 15.07.2019.
Online application process will commence from 13.05.2019 and to be done within 07.06.2019.
Download the Notification and schedule of the Examination.

Income Tax offices to remain open this weekend

One time relaxation for promotion from MTS to Tax Assistant issued

As many as 70 ITOs promoted to ACIT on ad-hoc basis

70 Income Tax Officers promoted as ACIT on ad-hoc basis and until further order, they will act on situ basis at their region of present posting.
We congratulate the new entrants in Indian Revenue Service.
Click here for the order
(ITGOA West Bengal site)

ITGOA's latest stand on strike

ITGOA CHQ HAS GIVEN A CALL TO ITS MEMBERS TO WEAR BLACK BADGE ON 8TH & 9TH ,JANUARY,2019 IN SUPPORT OF NATIONWIDE STRIKE CALLED BY CCGE&W  ON THE BASIS OF 10 POINT CHARTER OF DEMANDS. THE OB & EC MEMBERS OF STATE UNITS AND BRANCHES WILL TAKE 2 DAYS CL TO EXPRESS SOLIDARITY WITH ITEF. ALL MEMBERS ARE REQUESTED TO OBSERVE THE CALL-ITGOA,WB UNIT. 

ITGOA not participating in 8/9th January strike, extends solidarity

Confederation of Central Government Employees & Workers (CCGE&W) has decided to participate in two-days strike on 08th & 09 th January, 2019 adopting the resolution passed in the Convention of Central Trade Unions in support of 10 points Charter of Demands like scrapping of NPS, settlement of 7th CPC issues, implementation of 7th CPC wage revision in autonomous bodies, ensuring 5 compulsory promotions for all Gr. B & C employees, withdrawal of Rule 56(j) of CCS (Pension) Rules etc. The CCGE&W made an appeal to the CCGGOO for participating in two days strike action. The issue of participation in strike action is discussed in the National Executive Committee meeting on 17-12-2018.
 It is finally decided to request all the constituent organizations to organize ‘Mass Dharna’ on both the strike-days in support of the demands of the CCGE&W to extend our solidarity. The constituent organizations may also consider attending any nearby Dharna programmes organized by CCGE&W, wherever possible.
                      ITGOA to wear Black Badge, No Dharna
ITGOA Version : "However no strike notice was served as the CCGGOO had decided for Mass Dharna on both the days instead of strike action. The said decision was communicated to the Cabinet Secretary by the Secretary General, CCGGOO. But in our front, the ITEF has expressed that “you will appreciate the fact that any other form of action like Dharna ……. will only create problem for our leaders at state level in the picketing of the offices on the strike days” vide its letter to ITGOA, dated 20.12.2018. In the above mentioned scenario and as per the sentiment expressed in our Secretariat Meeting held on 15.11.2018, we feel that the ITGOA should give a concrete call of action on both the days of strike and the State Units of ITGOA should not be advised to act differently. Also, the sentiment of ITEF should be kept in mind. We have also conveyed the above to the Secretary General, CCGGOO and sought exemption from organizing Mass Dharna by the members of ITGOA and instead, to wear black badge by members of ITGOA to express solidarity. The Secretary General, CCGGOO has also consented to above request. Thus, for better coordination with ITEF, we, therefore, would like to advise our Units to wear black badges on both the days and to extend solidarity to the striking employees instead of Mass Dharna." - ITGOA Secy. Genl. Click here for details

Departmental Update

Simpleincometax wishes a very happy new year to all employees of the department. May this new year brings happiness and prosperity to everybody.
Here are some recent updates.
JCA has withdrawn the agitation programme following some developments like JCIT promotion, ACIT upgradation etc. 
Promotion order for JCIT released. 183 officers promoted as JCIT.  Order
As many as 164 ACITs upgraded to DCIT on officiating basis. Order
Board awarded 8 Grace Marks to all candidates for Ministerial Paper 4 exam. The results are being published in each zone.

Cadre Review and Restructuring process initiated

Much awaited cadre review and restructuring process in Income Tax Dept. initiated by CBDT.  A 15 member committee with representatives of three recognized service associations is formed to submit a detailed report for reorganization of this department.
A time frame of three months has been set for this exercise but as per the past experience, it usually takes at least two years to finalize the report for consideration in different levels and  finally gets through cabinet approval.
Click here for details

JCA revives agitation : No search and survey from December

JCA revived it's routine agitation once again.  JCA calls for non participation of search and survey (including TDS, Inspection and Recovery) operations to protest against apathy of CBDT, on 5 point charter of demand.
This call will be effective from 1st December 2018.

Inspectors' and ITO's Exam 2018 : Result published

Click here for Result of Departmental Examination-2018 for ITIs

Click here for Result of Departmental Examination-2018 for ITOs

Ministerial Examination 2018 : Grace Mark may be awarded in Paper IV

Amid protest from every corner throughout the country, Department finally agreed to consider the issue before publication of the result of Ministerial Examination 2018. It may be recalled that in the last examination, Question No 1 (50 Marks and a mandatory question) was dramatically changed from the conventional and exactly copied from ICAI website and was totally out of syllabus and very difficult in the level of the examinees.
Now the Directorate asked all CCIT(CCA)s to analysis pass percentage of this year with comparison to four previous years and the compiled data is to be used to consider awarding grace marks in this paper.

Laptop for Inspectors : CBDT working on it

In a welcome move, CBDT is considering to provide laptop to all Inspectors of the Department. Inspectors who have to carry out regular outdoor duties and perform search and survey operations, should have been provided laptop earlier as an essential tool for their work. But the demand has been ignored till now.
Now CBDT is actively considering to provide laptops to them at the cost of Rs 45 thousand each. Directorate of Infrastructure recently asked DG System to provide technical specification and compatibility with Dept. software within the monetary limit prescribed. It also asked DG (HRD) to provide the working strength of Inspectors for the above mentioned purpose.
Click here for details

Details of anomaly committee meeting on 4th Oct reg. upgradation of pay

Recently a whatsapp message has become viral in different groups regarding granting of enhanced Grade Pay to Inspectors and ITOs of the department. The message is reproduced below.
"... the 3rd Meeting of Departmental Anomaly  Committee which held on 4.10.2018 decided to recommend to increase the Grade Pay of Inspectors of Income Tax/Central Excise  from Rs.4600/- to Rs.4800 at par with CBI Inspectors and Head Havildar Grade Pay from Rs.1900/- to Rs.2000/- in Central Exice. It was also decided to revisit the demand of increase of Tax Assistants Grade Pay from Rs.2400/- to Rs.2800/- by both CBDT and CBEC. The Tax Assistants Pay Anamoly will be decided in the next Meeting. Now the Inspectors pay matter will go to department of expenditure for notification. If it is  notified the Grade Pay of ITO will also be revised from Rs Rs.4800/- to Rs.5400/- Our long pending demand of pay at par CBI will be settled. It is a great achievement..."

Simpleincometax inquired into the matter and procured a copy of the minutes of the said anomaly committee meeting held on 4th October 2018. The outcome of the meeting is reproduced below along with the minutes.

Laptop for ITO and above, nothing for others !

CBDT approved and issued order to procure more than 12,000 laptops for the officers starting from ITO and above under the 1% incentive scheme. As earlier, AO and P.S. category of officers are excluded again.
The laptops will be procured by Pr CCIT (CCA)s for the region through GeM.
There will be five varieties of laptops to be chosen by the respective user and each laptop costs nearly 1 Lac.
Though this is being procured and distributed from the fund of 1% incentive scheme, nothing is provided for Group C officials and A.O. and P.S. As the incentive is for achieving revenue target, there is significant role of all employees in the department but once again they are deprived of. The JCA, mostly dominated by ITGOA members will remain silent in this issue as earlier occasion.
Are the ITEF leaders listening ?
Click here for the procurement order.

18 posts diverted from West Bengal to Surat

As many as 18 posts diverted from West Bengal to Surat for the newly created ITAT Bench there. JCA West Bengal Unit staged protest in this regard earlier including observing one day's cease work but the authority did not pay heed to their demand and diverted those posts with immediate effect. It may be mentioned that in the last cadre restructuring West Bengal region did not get adequate number of new posts.

Latest DOE order to benefit promotees

On 28th September 2018, Dept. of Expenditure issued a much waited order regarding fixation of pay for persons in the posts where both DR and Promotees compose the cadre. As per the sixth CPC, the DRs appointed on or after 01.01.2006 were fixed as per the rule and many times it was much higher than promotees in that particular scale. For example, in the case of Direct Recruited Inspectors pay had been fixed as Rs. 17540 as entry pay. If a promotee, senior to him was drawing lesser pay, he had to take the course of anomaly with a particular person in this respect to step up his pay.
As per the recent order, the promotees will get that minimum entry pay as on 01.01.2006 or subsequently from the date of his promotion even if no Direct Recruit has has joined in that post after him.
Click here for the O.M. dated 28.09.2018

Parmar issue is live again, seniority may be refixed afresh !

Once again the Parmar issue has come into focus ! Seniority between DR and Promotees are again in question. This time CBIC (Formerly CBEC) issued a direction regarding fixation of inter-se seniority. In this direction, it is clearly mentioned that Supreme Court judgement in the Parmar case has to be implemented with effect from the date of judgement, i e 27.11.2012.
View the CBIC Order
View the Supreme Court Judgement on N R Parmar
It may be recalled that after the N.R. Parmar judgement, DOPT issued an O.M. dated 4.3.2014 where it clearly instructed to implement the Apex Court decision with effect from 27.11.2012 and already settled seniority prior to that date need not be reopened.
DOPT O.M. dated 4.3.2014
But in Income Tax Department all pending seniority lists where there is a component of Direct Recruit exists, were reopened and refixed, which is contravention to the Supreme Court judgement , as well as DOPT instruction dated 04.03.2014. CBDT has done this in consideration of DOPT clarification issued to Income Tax Department where it was specifically confirmed to revisit the entire issue of seniority in this Dept.
View the DOPT clarification to Income Tax Dept
Anyway the matter is live again after the recent circular from CBIC !

D.A. hiked by 2% from 1st July 2018

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modihas approved to release an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners w.e.f. 01.07.2018 representing an increase of 2% over the existing rate of 7% of the Basic Pay/Pension, to compensate for price rise.

The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and Deamess Relief would be Rs.6112.20 crore per annum and Rs.4074.80 crore in the financial year 2018-19 (for a period of 08 months from July, 2018 to February, 2019).

This will benefit about 48.41 lakh Central Government employees and 62.03 lakh pensioners.

ITO to Adhoc ACIT : Promotion Order released

As many as 118 ITOs promoted to the grade of ACIT on adhoc basis. 
Click here for the order

This promotion has been granted as per vacancy year 2017-18. On promotion, the new ACITs will assume charge on situ basis under the present Pr CCIT (CCA) charge, till further placement.
Congratulation to the newly promoted ACITs.

ITO to ACIT promotion anytime soon

It is gathered that adhoc promotion to the grade of ACIT will be released soon. The DPC has been convened last week and after due formalities, the order is expected very soon.

JCA to suspend ongoing agitation

Update : As expected, JCA suspended the ongoing agitation till 17.08.2018. Click here for JCA Circular
JCA likely to withdraw the ongoing agitation or at least temporarily suspend it. A meeting with Member (Admin), CBDT with JCA leadership held yesterday and the authority conveys positive response in most of the issues.
Click here for Gist of discussion

ITGOA and ITEF are currently discussing to withdraw the non cooperation movement. The announcement may reach the members anytime soon. So let us be prepared with all pending reports !

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