20 things Jaitley changed in India through this budget

Income Tax investigators given more power & carbon traders get concessions

There were many things that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said during his budget speech but there are many more that went unsaid. Here is a list of 20 things that could have a direct or indirect impact on your life: 

• With regard to a foreign company, sale of leftover stock of crude oil in case of strategic petroleum reserve after the expiry of the agreement, subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions, shall not be liable to tax in India.

• In case of income arising from sale of carbon credit, a concessional tax rate of ten per cent will be given
   
• Government, foreign missions and state PSUs engaged in the passenger transport business will be exempted from Tax Collection at Source (TCS) provisions relating to purchase of vehicles. 

• Conditions of special taxation regime for offshore funds under section 9A of the Income-tax Act has been modified. Now, maintenance of minimum fund size would not be necessary for the year in which the fund is being wound up. 

• Income from Chief Minister’s Relief Fund or the Lieutenant Governor’s Relief Fund shall be exempted from tax. 

• Certain entities like Investor Protection Funds, Core Settlement Guarantee Fund, Tea/Coffee/Rubber Boards, enjoying exemption from levy of income-tax under section 10 of the Income-tax Act, shall be required to furnish return of their income. 

• In order to ensure timely filing of returns of income, it is proposed to levy a fee in case of delay in filing the return. 

• If an accountant or a merchant banker or a registered valuer furnishes incorrect information in a report or certificate, the applicant shall be liable to a penalty of Rs 10,000 for each default. 

• No person shall receive payment of an amount of Rs 3 lakh or more from a person in a day, or in respect of a single transaction. Such restriction shall not apply to Government, banks or such other persons notified by the Central Government. There will be a penalty in case of contravention of this provision. 

• A lower rate of deduction of tax in case of payments made to a person engaged only in the business operation of a call centre. 

• Tax neutrality in case of conversion of preference shares of a company into equity shares. 

• Grant of interest in case of refund of excess payment of TDS. 

• Authorising the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to issue directions or instructions in order to remove hardships faced by taxpayers who face penalty relating to tax deduction or collection at source. 

• Amending provisions related to computation of book profit for the purpose of levying minimum alternate tax (MAT)  to align it with the Indian Accounting Standards. 

• Any trust or institution, which has been granted registration and has adopted or undertaken modification of the objects that do not conform to the conditions of registration, shall be required to obtain fresh registration. 

• To provide parity between an individual who is an employee and an individual who is self-employed; the self-employed individual shall be eligible for deduction up to 20 per cent of his gross total income in respect of contribution made to the National Pension System Trust. 

• An authorised officer can, subject to conditions as specified, provisionally attach a property for a period of six months in order to protect the interest of revenue. 

• The Joint Director, Deputy Director or the Assistant Director of the Income-tax department can call for information for the purpose of an enquiry without seeking the approval of seniors.

• In cases, where there is a tangible evidence against an individual during a search operation, the Assessing Officer can assess income up to ten years from the time the search took place. 

• Exemptions were made for capital gains arising out of transfer of a rupee denominated bond by a non-resident to a non-resident.