FBT payments of top 100 payees to be monitored

With the first installment of the advance fringe benefit tax due on July 15, the income tax department has asked the chief commissioners to personally monitor the advance FBT payment by top 100 taxpayers in their charge.

The officials have also been asked to obtain the quarterly financial results of the companies assessed in their charge, from the database of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), to check whether the advance FBT payments for the first quarter are commensurate with the expenses of the nature referred to under the section pertaining to fringe benefits, claimed in the first quarter of the current financial year.

In cases where a wide gap is noticed between the tax payable and the tax paid for the first quarter, the chief commissioners have been asked to take necessary steps to educate the assessees for proper compliance.

Chief commissioners have also been asked to designate a nodal officer at every station of their charge to address queries of the trade and industry relating to FBT.

Chief commissioners have also been requested to personally monitor that every scheduled bank assessed to income tax in their region has paid the Banking Cash Transaction Tax (BCTT) for the month of June by July 15, 2005.

The Income Tax Department has identified three databases "" primary, secondary and tertiary "" which would constitute the information system in respect of transactions subject to the BCTT.

The primary database comprises of the original transaction records like bank ledger, cheques and daily scrolls which would not be required to be transmitted to the tax authorities but made available to them as and when required.

The secondary database comprises of the computerised banking scroll summarising the primary database, which too would not be required to be submitted to the tax authorities.

The tertiary database comprising a monthly summary of the secondary data would not provide transaction-wise details but the number of transactions entered into each branch of a scheduled bank during a month. The tertiary data would be required to be furnished by a bank with respect to all its branches every month.