Stakeholders Interact With I-T Officials on Exemption Issues
Officials stress due diligence in donation claims and timely filing to avoid tax issues
Hyderabad: A half-day interaction session between the Income-Tax Department and stakeholders was held on Friday at the Income-Tax Towers, AC Guards, Hyderabad. The event saw participation from members of the Tax Bar Associations of both Telugu-speaking states, along with trustees and representatives of various tax-exempted entities.
The session was led by Debjyoti Das, IRS, Principal Chief Commissioner of Income-Tax (Exemptions), New Delhi, who interacted directly with participants.
During the session, emphasis was laid on the need for due diligence and verification of donation claims made under Section 80GGC. Das highlighted that recent CBDT investigations revealed several registered but unrecognised political parties (with the Election Commission of India) had been accepting donations, allowing taxpayers to fraudulently claim deductions in their income-tax returns.
A wide range of topics was discussed at length, including the new registration procedures for tax-exempt entities, re-registration after the five-year validity period, provisions on specified income and anonymous donations, cancellation of registration, levy of exit tax, and mergers of entities.
Das, who recognised several chartered accountants among the participants, briefly interacted with them during the session. He explained common mistakes made while filing returns for exempted entities, the procedures for filing rectifications, due dates for submission of accumulation reports, audit reports, and income tax returns, as well as the consequences of delays.
He advised all stakeholders to strictly adhere to prescribed timelines to avoid unnecessary tax demands. He also urged assessees and auditors to quote PAN correctly, use appropriate ITR forms, and regularly check the e-filing portal, registered e-mail IDs, and mobile numbers for compliance updates.
Das further advised all applicants who had filed Form 10AB to submit replies in the specified format and within the time frame mentioned in the questionnaire issued during the application process.
Citing the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) case, he explained that the demand raised against the entity was due to disallowance of exemption under Section 12A of the Income Tax Act. The taxpayer had failed to file the audit report with a valid digital signature and did not submit the exemption certificate, leading the assessing officer to raise a demand.
The session also discussed other instances where exemption claims were rejected or cancelled due to non-submission of valid documents, application of income beyond stated objectives, use of funds for private religious purposes, non-genuine activities, or submission of false or misleading information.
