While speaking at the summit, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman explained why a lot of taxpayers are receiving notices from the Income Tax (IT) department and Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in March. 

Referring to a taxpayer’s charter which bars opening cases related to tax payment after six years, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made it clear that many notices are being sent in March, because CBDT and IT have to follow the six-year limitation as the “tax authorities won’t be able to open the six-year-old pending cases on 1st April, ie day after tomorrow.” 

Also Read: Income Tax Department to send notice to taxpayers for ITR mismatch

“On the question of pending amounts and court cases, by introducing the faceless system, we have ensured that cases cannot be opened beyond six years unless the amount is substantial,” Sitharaman said at Mint Summit on Saturday.

IT notices are not being sent for harassment: Finance Minister Sitharaman

Amid huge clamour around tax notices being received by individuals, start-ups and other companies over past few weeks, the Finance Minister clarified that the tax notices are not being sent for “harassment”. 

“It is not a new method of harassment, it is the compliance for the board to follow the timeline to access for people for whom information is not readily available,” noted Nirmala Sitharaman.

“Another dimension is, if you are manually keeping your account with the CBDT, they are now being digitised. This is why you have a flurry of notices going out in March,” she added.

Finance Minister Sitharaman also applauded the increasing participation of the private sector in the new energy, solar, genomics, AI, green hydrogen sector, and semiconductors sectors. The Finance Minister expressed confidence that the average growth in Indian GDP will be 8% or above in FY24.

In her session, she also said that very clear strategic interventions were made by the government, which will “now be carried to the layers of the gram panchayat.”

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“If oil prices go up, we have to consider strategic reserves, and how to avoid passing the extra price burden on citizens,” she added. Talking about the insurance sector, Nirmala Sitharaman said, “On insurance, there are many matters worthy of discussion. The regulator is very active. I also look at how bank insurance is working.” 

A month ago, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman Nitin Gupta had said that the income tax department will send notices to individuals who haven’t filed income tax returns, even though tax has been deducted at source on their incomes.

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Published: 30 Mar 2024, 06:35 PM IST