New Delhi:

The Centre today refuted a report that said passengers’ data from the Digi Yatra application was being used to crack down on tax evaders. “The recent media report concerning Digi Yatra is based on unfounded and inaccurate claims,” the Ministry of Civil Aviation posted on X.

“There is no sharing of Digi Yatra passengers’ data with Indian tax authorities,” it added.

The government’s denial comes after a newspaper report, citing sources, claimed the tax department had access to the Digi Yatra app data which was being reconciled with tax filings to check for discrepancies in the declared income. It added the Income Tax department would start issuing notices to tax evaders in 2025.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation informed that the app “follows the Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) model, where Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and travel credentials are stored exclusively on the user’s device, not on any central repository”.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation hereby clarifies that the recent media report concerning Digi Yatra is based on unfounded and inaccurate claims.

There is no sharing of Digi Yatra passengers data with Indian tax authorities. The Digi Yatra app follows the Self-Sovereign Identity…

— MoCA_GoI (@MoCA_GoI) December 30, 2024

“If a user uninstalls the Digi Yatra app, the data is deleted entirely,” it added.

Further clarifying, the ministry said, “Airport systems automatically purge passenger data within 24 hours of the flight’s departure. It is also important to note that Digi Yatra is designed solely for domestic passengers and does not apply to international travellers.”

Earlier, the Income Tax department also denied the report, saying it was not looking at Digi Yatra data to go after evaders.

It is seen that news articles have appeared stating that Digiyatra data will be used to crack down on tax evaders.
In this connection it is clarified that as on date there is no such move by the @IncomeTaxIndia department.@nsitharamanoffc@officeofPCM@FinMinIndia@PIB_India

— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) December 30, 2024

The official X handle of Digi Yatra thanked the Income Tax department for “addressing the false claims”.

Digi Yatra, based on Facial Recognition Technology (FRT), provides for contactless, seamless movement of passengers at various checkpoints at airports.

The data shared by a passenger for Digi Yatra is stored in an encrypted format. To avail the service, passengers need to register their details on the Digi Yatra app using Aadhaar-based validation and a self-image capture. In the next step, the boarding pass has to be scanned and the credentials are shared with the airport.

The Income Tax department is urging taxpayers to link their Permanent Account Number (PAN) with the Aadhaar Card before December 31, 2024. Failing to do so will result in the deactivation of the PAN card, which might lead to transaction issues and other complications. 

This move comes amid a rise in financial fraud cases, as several fintech firms were reportedly using PAN information to create customer profiles without user authorisation, raising serious concerns. So, to prevent the misuse of personal information, the Ministry of Home Affairs directed the Income Tax Department to limit access to personal details via PAN. 

The I-T department has made linking of PAN with the Aadhaar Card mandatory for all the taxpayers of India. Failing to link the two before the deadline will render your PAN Cards inoperative. This can lead to several issues, including difficulty in carrying out financial transactions. 

Steps to check PAN-Aadhaar link status

Step 1. Visit the Income Tax e-filing portal at www.incometax.gov.in.

Step 2. On the homepage, click on the ‘Quick Links’ option. 

Step 3. Click on Link Aadhaar status and provide your PAN and Aadhaar Card numbers on the new page. 

Step 4. If your PAN and Aadhaar are already linked, in that case a message will pop up – “Your PAN is already linked to given Aadhaar”. 

Step 5. If not done, then the pop-up will read, “PAN not linked with Aadhaar. Please click on ‘Link Aadhaar’ visible under the Quick Links section of the website’s left-hand side. You’ll be directed to a page where you are supposed to file in details including your PAN and Aadhaar details and also your name as per the Aadhaar Card.

The Income Tax department has a dedicated FAQ page regarding the procedure to link PAN with Aadhaar to help taxpayers.

Income Tax Department extends audit report filing deadline to October 7, 2024 due to technical difficulties faced by taxpayers. File
| Photo Credit: S. Siva Saravanan

The Income Tax (I-T) Department has extended the date for filing audit report for 2023-24 by seven days till October 7.

In a circular, the I-T Department said considering the difficulties faced by taxpayers in electronic filing of various audit reports under the Income Tax Act, the deadline is being extended from September 30, 2024 to October 7, 2024.

Moore Singhi Executive Director Rajat Mohan said technological issues in electronic filing of tax audit reports have pushed the Government to extend timelines by seven more days.

Also Read: How to file Income Tax Returns (ITR) 2024 via WhatsApp

“Load of filings is quite high on the portal in the last few days, throwing the entire ecosystem in a frenzy. Government should either upgrade the system to handle such rush or stagger the timelines for tax filings,” Mr. Mohan said .

New Delhi:

The deadline to file your Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for the assessment year 23-24 has not been extended beyond July 31. However, a lot of taxpayers who filed their returns well in advance are now looking forward to their refund. The ITR refund is available to those who filed their returns and paid more in taxes than was necessary for the fiscal year. But if it’s taking longer than it should, here are some possible reasons for it

1. I-T Department seeking more details: The Income Tax Department could demand additional information from a taxpayer, and this could be one of the reasons for the delay in refund. To make sure the information provided by the taxpayer is accurate, the return may be chosen for inspection. Should this occur, there may be a delay in the refund process.

2. Inconsistency in calculations: A taxpayer’s refund may be delayed if there are differences between the tax computations on the return and the figures examined by the Income Tax Department. If the taxpayer has any outstanding taxes, they may receive a notice. They need to review their documents carefully and make any necessary adjustments to remedy this. If the taxpayer feels the return is inaccurate, they can file a rectification return under Section 139(4).

3. Inaccurate bank account information: Taxpayers need to ensure that the bank account number they provided on their ITR is accurate. Refunds may take longer to process if the bank name doesn’t match the account number.

4. Verification of bank account: Only pre-validated bank accounts are eligible to receive refunds. Taxpayers need to make sure the income tax e-filing system has authenticated their bank account to avoid delays. They need to verify that their IFSC code is current if there have been any recent bank mergers.

5. Inconsistencies in Form 26AS: All taxes related to a taxpayer’s PAN are consolidated into Form 26AS. A refund may be delayed if the TDS information in the return does not match Form 26AS.

Verifying the status of a refund

There are two ways taxpayers can verify the status of income tax refund — through the NSDL website and the official Income Tax portal.

NSDL website

Taxpayers need to head to the NSDL website — tin.tin.nsdl.com/oltas/refundstatuslogin.html. Then they need to enter their PAN credentials to log in. After that, they have to choose the relevant evaluation year. Then finally they have to click ‘Submit’ after entering the CAPTCHA code to see the status of their refund.

They need to wait at least 10 days after the assessing officer sends the refund to the refund banker before they can verify the status.

Income Tax portal

Here, taxpayers need to go to incometax.gov.in and sign in using their password and PAN or Aadhaar number. Then they have to head to the homepage and select ‘e-file.’ They need to choose ‘View Filed Returns’ after going to ‘Income Tax Returns.’

Then they have to verify the status of their most recent ITR for the Assessment Year 2024–2025 (financial year 2023–24).

To view the current status of their refund, they must click ‘View Details.’

By going through these procedures, taxpayers can determine whether they are eligible for a refund for their income taxes and also find out why the refund hasn’t been paid into their bank accounts on time.

New Delhi:

The country’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp on Thursday said it has received demand notices from the Income Tax department for around Rs 605 crore, including interest, for six assessment years.

On April 3, 2024, the company received assessment orders/ demand notices dated March 30, 2024, pertaining to six assessment years from the Income Tax department, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The two-wheeler major is examining the orders/ notices received and shall take appropriate steps, including the filing of appeals and rectification applications, it added.

The notice pertains to six assessment years, amounting to a tax demand of Rs 308.65 crore and interest thereon of Rs 296.22 crore, Hero MotoCorp said.

This is on account of certain disallowances, for the assessment years 2013-14 to 2017-18 and 2019-20, it added.

“In the opinion of the management, the demand raised is unsustainable in nature, and is unlikely to have material impact on financials, operations or other activities of the company,” the two-wheeler major stated.

Shares of the company on Thursday ended 0.75 per cent lower at Rs 4,522.30 apiece on the BSE. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Delhi High Court today dismissed Congress party’s pleas challenging the reassessment proceedings initiated against it by the Income Tax Department.

A bench of Justices Yashwant Varma and Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav, while pronouncing the verdict, said, “We dismiss the writ petitions.” A detailed order is awaited.

The high court had reserved its order on March 20 on the pleas filed by the political party against the tax reassessment proceedings initiated against it by the authorities for three successive years: 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17.

The party has contested the reassessment proceedings, claiming they were barred by limitation.

Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing the Congress party, had submitted that tax reassessment proceedings are barred by limitation and the I-T department could have gone back to a maximum of six assessment years.

The I-T department, however, asserted there was no violation of any statutory provision by the tax authority and that as per the material recovered, the “escaped” income by the party is more than Rs 520 crore.

Recently, the high court had refused to interfere with the order of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal declining to stay a notice issued by the Income Tax department to the Congress for recovery of outstanding tax of more than Rs 100 crore.

The assessing officer had raised a tax demand of more than Rs 100 crore for the assessment year 2018-19 when the income was assessed to be more than Rs 199 crore.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Today, March 15, 2024, marks the final deadline for taxpayers in India to settle their fourth and final installment of advance tax for the financial year 2023-24. Missing this deadline can result in penalties and interest charges.

Advance tax allows taxpayers to spread out their income tax payments throughout the year, rather than paying a large sum at the end of the financial year. This system ensures a steady flow of tax revenue for the government.

Who Needs to Pay Advance Tax?

Salaried individuals, freelancers, and businesses: If your total tax liability is expected to be more than Rs 10,000 for the financial year, you are required to pay advance tax.

Senior citizens: Those aged 60 and above who do not have business income are exempt. However, senior citizens with business income must pay an advance tax.

Presumptive income taxpayers: Businesses and professionals under the presumptive taxation scheme (sections 44AD and 44ADA) have the option to pay their entire advance tax in one go by March 15th or by March 31st.

How To Pay Advance Income Tax?

Eligible taxpayers are required to make advance income tax payments in four installments throughout the financial year, typically in June, September, December, and March. These payments can be made conveniently online via either the official website of the Income Tax Department (incometaxindia.gov.in) or the National Securities Depository.

Act Now To Avoid Penalties

The Income Tax Department urges all taxpayers to settle their advance tax dues before the deadline.
Failure to do so can lead to interest charges under sections 234B and 234C of the Income Tax Act.

For more information on advance tax and how to calculate your liability, taxpayers can visit the Income Tax Department’s website.

The income tax department has launched an electronic campaign for taxpayers who have carried out significant transactions in the current financial year. Such taxpayers will be informed through email and SMS, with the department urging them to deposit their due advance tax on or before March 15, 2024. The campaign was started after the income tax department identified individuals and entities with discrepancies between transactions carried out and the tax deposited. The department said that the aim of this campaign is to encourage such taxpayers to deposit the “right” amount as tax.

“The Income Tax Department has received certain information on specific financial transactions undertaken by persons or entities during the financial year 2023-24. On the basis of an analysis of the taxes paid so far during the current financial year, the Department has identified persons /entities whose payment of taxes for FY 2023-24 (A.Y. 2024-25) is not commensurate with the financial transactions made by the persons/entities concerned, during the said period,” the income tax department said in a release on Sunday.

The department receives information of specified financial transactions of taxpayers from various sources. To increase transparency and to promote voluntary tax compliance, this information is reflected in the Annual Information Statement (AIS) and is available to the persons/entities for viewing. Officials said that the value of ‘Significant Transactions’ in the AIS has been used for carrying out this analysis.

What is advance tax?

It is the income tax that is paid in advance instead of lump sum payment. In other words, it is the tax that individuals pay as they earn. These payments have to be made in instalments as per due dates provided by the income tax department.

Who needs to pay advance tax?

Salaried individuals, freelancers and businesses with a total tax liability of Rs 10,000 or more in a year need to pay advance tax. In case of senior citizens (people aged 60 or more), and do not run a business, are exempt from paying advance tax. This is applicable only to those who have business income.

Further, taxpayers who have opted for the presumptive taxation scheme under Section 44AD have to pay the whole amount of their advance tax.

Image used for representational purpose only.
| Photo Credit: S. Siva Saravanan

Gross direct tax collection grew 15.73% to ₹6.53 lakh crore till August 10 in the current fiscal, the Income Tax department said on August 11.

Net direct tax collection after adjusting refunds stands at ₹5.84 lakh crore, which is 17.33% higher than the net collections for the corresponding period of last year.

Also read | Net direct tax collections up 17.63%, exceed revised estimates target

“The provisional figures of direct tax collections up to 10 August, 2023 continue to register steady growth,” the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a statement.

The collection is 32.03% of the total budget estimates of direct taxes for current fiscal 2023-24.

Refunds amounting to ₹69,000 crore have been issued till August 10, which are 3.73% higher than refunds issued during the same period in the preceding year.

File.
| Photo Credit: V. RAJU

Individuals reporting annual total income of over ₹1 crore have doubled to 1.69 lakh in the two-year period ending March 2022, the income tax department data showed.

As per the tax return data filed in assessment year (AY) 2022-23, relating to income earned in fiscal 2021-22, 1,69,890 individuals have shown total income of above ₹ 1 crore.

This is higher than 1,14,446 individuals who had shown similar income in AY 2021-22.

The number has doubled since AY 2020-21, wherein 81,653 individuals had declared an income of over ₹1 crore.

During AY 2022-23, over 2.69 lakh entities, including individuals, companies, firms and trusts, have shown total income of above ₹1 crore.

This includes filings by 66,397 companies, 25,262 firms, 3,059 trusts and 2,068 Association of Persons.

In AY 2022-23, the total number of ITR filed stood at over 7.78 crore, higher than nearly 7.14 crore filed in AY 2021-22 and 7.39 crore filed in AY 2020-21.

As regards the state-wise filing count for AY 2022-23, Maharashtra topped the chart with 1.98 crore ITRs being filed, followed by Uttar Pradesh (75.72 lakh), Gujarat (75.62 lakh), and Rajasthan (50.88 lakh).

The list also includes West Bengal (47.93 lakh), Tamil Nadu (47.91 lakh), Karnataka (42.82 lakh), Andhra Pradesh (40.09 lakh) and Delhi (39.99 lakh).