Income Tax: Now tax officials will be able to waive outstanding interest up to Rs 1.5 crore, order issued

The Income Tax Department has given approval to the tax authorities to waive or reduce the interest payable by taxpayers subject to specified conditions. According to this, a PRCIT rank officer can decide to reduce or waive the outstanding interest of more than Rs 1.5 crore. For outstanding interest ranging from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore, a CCIT rank officer will decide the exemption/deduction, while the PRCIT or Commissioner of Income Tax can decide on outstanding interest up to Rs 50 lakh. At the same time, deduction or exemption in interest payable under section 220 (2A) will be available on fulfillment of three specified conditions.

18,000 fake companies detected, tax evasion of Rs 25,000 crore detected

Under a special operation conducted across the country, tax officials have detected about 18,000 fake companies registered under GST, which are involved in tax evasion of about Rs 25,000 crore. These companies neither bought nor sold any goods on land. They prepared Input Tax Credit (ITC) by showing purchase and sale of goods only on paper and took huge amount from the government in its name.

The investigation into the fraud will be completed within a year

CBIC has asked customs officials to disclose the specific nature of the ongoing investigation while issuing letters/summons in export/import fraud cases and complete the investigation within a year.

In a direction issued on November 1, the CBIC said, “Investigation in any commercial intelligence/fraud case should be completed as soon as possible, which generally does not exceed one year. “Before initiating an investigation, it is necessary to review all information and examine available data to minimize contact with the importer/exporter.” CBIC Chairman Sanjay Kumar Aggarwal said the guidelines outline an approach of minimum disruption during investigation of CI fraud cases.