Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Nov 22, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Nov 22, 2003 |
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Money & Banking
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Regulatory Bodies & Rulings Industry & Economy - Income Tax Move to widen tax payer base; format being readied — Banks have to give info on high value deals Our Bureau
New Delhi , Nov. 21 THE Finance Ministry would finalise the structure of the Annual Information Return (AIR) that banks and other specified agencies will have to compulsorily furnish in relation to `high value' transactions in immovable and movable property, including investments in shares and deposits. "We are in the advanced stage of negotiations with the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL), which will be the interface between the Income Tax Department and agencies such as banks, post offices, motor vehicle dealers, financial institutions, telecom operators, power companies and other utilities. All these agencies would be required to provide details on large financial transactions to the NSDL, which will host the information for our use," a top Ministry official said. The official added that the entire groundwork in this regard, including finalisation of the AIR structure, the nature and value of transactions to come under scrutiny and the agencies to be covered, would be completed by end-December. The Finance Act, 2003, has already provided for establishing a mechanism, wherein the flow of information regarding the material financial transactions entered into by a taxpayer with other persons is automatic so that the same can be utilised for widening and deepening of the tax base. "Since NSDL is already handling Rs 800,000 crore worth of securities in the dematerialised form and is also expected to play a bigger role in dealing with Government savings instruments such as National Savings Certificates, it is technically competent to undertake data collections and information sharing with the IT Department," the official added. The AIR will start with providing details on all high value transactions that have taken place during the current fiscal. "We will decide the monetary limits for different types of transactions, for which information would have to be filed by the specified agencies. These could even pertain to, say large electricity bill payments," the official said. The Finance Ministry has also appointed a consortium consisting of Ernst & Young and NSE.IT to provide computerisation support to the department, as part of its plans to network all its offices in the country. At present, offices in 60 cities are already networked and the remaining 441 are proposed to be covered in the next two years. Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Finance, Mr Sripad Naik, said that the gross direct tax collections during April-October 2003 stood at Rs 57,391 crore against Rs 46,652 crore during the corresponding period last year. In net terms, the increase was from Rs 32,674 crore to Rs 38,758 crore, with the lower growth attributed to the jump in refunds from Rs 13,978 crore to Rs 18,633 crore.
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