Income Declaration Scheme, 2016 - An Overview

Few Words about the scheme:-

i. The Income Declaration Scheme,2016 is incorporated as Chapter IX of Finance Act 2016 and is covered in section 181 to section 199.

ii. It shall come into force on 1st day of June 2016

iii. This is one time Opportunity.

Declaration of undisclosed income:-

(1) Any person (whether Resident or Non Resident) can make declaration of any income chargeable to tax under Income-tax act for any assessment year prior to beginning of AY 2017:-

(a) For which he has failed to furnish return under section 19 of Income-tax act,

(b) Income which he has failed to disclose in a return furnished earlier before commencement of this scheme.

(c)Income which has escaped assessment  by reason of omission or failure on part of such person.

(2) If the income which is chargeable to tax is in form of investment in any asset then the fair market value of such asset as on 1st June 2016 shall be deemed to be undisclosed income.

(3) No deduction in respect of any allowance or expenditure shall be allowed against such undisclosed income.

(4) The declaration can be made on or before 30th day of September 2016.

Charge of Tax & Surcharge:

The undisclosed income shall be charged at the rate of 45%. The breakup of this 45% is as follows-

1. 30% as income tax,

2. 7.5% as krishi kalyan surcharge which will be used for agriculture and rural economy,

3. 7.5% as penalty.

Manner of declaration:-

1. The declaration shall be made to Principal Commissioner or the Commissioner.

2. One person shall be entitled to one declaration however if the person make another declaration it shall be Void.

3. Can be filed online or in print form.

Time for Payment of Tax:-

1. Amount not less than 25% of Tax, surcharge and penalty is to be paid till 30th November 2016,

2. Amount not less than 50% of Tax, surcharge and penalty as reduced by the amount paid earlier is to be paid till 31st March 2017,

3. The whole amount of Tax, surcharge and penalty as reduced by amount paid earlier is to be paid till 30th day of September 2017.

The Declarant shall file the proof of payment with Principal Commissioner or Commissioner as the case may be.

If the declarant fails to pay amount then it shall be deemed that no declaration have been made under this scheme.

Undisclosed Income declared not to be included in Total Income:-

The amount which is disclosed under this scheme shall not be included in the total income of the declarant for any AY if the declarant may payment of Tax, Surcharge and penalty on time.

Undisclosed Income declared not to effect finality of completed assessments:-

A declarant shall not be entitled to Re-open any assessment or reassessment made under Income Tax Act or Wealth-tax Act.

Undisclosed Income declared not to be treated as benami transaction in certain cases:-

If the declaration of undisclosed income is made in the form of investment in any asset, the provisions of Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act, 1988 shall not apply if the asset existing in the name of Benamidaris transferred to the declarant before 30th day of September 2017.

Tax in respect of voluntary disclosed income not refundable:-

Any amount of Tax, Surcharge and penalty paid in pursuance of the scheme shall not be refunded.

Immunity:-

1. Assets declared exempt from wealth Tax.

2. No scrutiny/Enquiry under Income Tax/wealth tax in respect of such declarations.

3. Immunity from prosecution under Income Tax/Wealth Tax.

4. Immunity from Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act 1988 subject to certain conditions mentions above.

Scheme not to apply to certain persons:-

The provisions of the scheme shall not apply –

1. In relation to any income chargeable to tax under Income Tax Act for any PY before 1st  April 2016-

(a) Where notice U/s 142/143(2)/148/153A/153C of income tax has been issued in respect of such assessment year and proceeding is pending before AO.

(b) where a search has been conducted under section 132 or requisition has been made under section 132A or a survey has been carried out under section 133A of the Income-tax Act in a previous year and a notice under 143(2) for the assessment year relevant to such previous year or a notice under section 153A or under section 153C for an assessment year relevant to any previous year prior to such previous year has not been issued and the time for issuance of such notice has not expired.

(c) where any information has been received by the competent authority under an agreement entered into by the Central Government under section 90 or section 90A of the Income-tax Act in respect of such undisclosed asset.

Removal of Doubts:-

The following declaration is made-

1. Where any declaration is made but no amount of tax, surcharge and penalty is paid within the tine specified the undisclosed income shall be chargeable to tax under the Income Tax Act in the PY in which such declaration is made.

2. Where any income is accrued, arisen or received or any asset is acquired out of such income before the commencement of this scheme and no declaration is made of such income in this scheme-

(a) Such income shall be deemed to accrue, arise or receive as the case may be, or

(b) Value of such assets acquired out of such income shall be deemed to have been acquired or made,

In the year in which notice U/s 142(2)/143/148/153A/153C is issued by AO and provisions of Income Tax Act shall apply accordingly.

3. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Scheme, where a declaration has been made by misrepresentation or suppression of facts, such declaration shall be void and shall be deemed never to have been made under this Scheme.

Forms to be used:-

1. Form-1 for declaration of Income.

2. Form-2 Acknowledgement to be issued by Principal Commissioner or Commissioner within 15 days from the end of the month in which declaration is made.

3. Form-3 proof of payment of tax, surcharge and penalty made pursuant to the acknowledgement in form-2 shall be furnished by such declarant.

4. The Principal Commissioner or the Commissioner shall grant a certificate in Form-4 to the declarant within fifteen days of the submission of proof of payment of tax, surcharge and penalty by the declarant in respect of the income so declared.

Shifting of Companies Registered Office

REGISTERED OFFICE- Shifting From one place to another within the local limits of any City, Town or Village

Registered office of a company is a principle place of business activity of a company. It is mandatory for all companies to have its registered office and to inform the Registrar of Companies (ROC) about the location and any change thereto within the prescribed time.

Provision Relating to Registered office of a company

♠ Registered office of a newly Incorporated Company

Section 12 (1) provides company to have a registered office capable of receiving and acknowledging all communications and notices as may be addressed to it on and from the fifteenth day of its incorporation and at all times thereafter.

*Section 146 of Companies Act, 1956 required to set up a registered office either from the day on which a company begins to carry on business or from 30^th day after the day of its incorporation. Whichever is earlier.

♠ Verification of Registered office

Section 12(2) read with Rule 25 of Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014, provides company to furnish to the Registrar verification of its registered office within a period of thirty days of its incorporation in Form No. 22.

*Companies Act, 1956 doesn’t provides for verification of registered office

PROCEDURE FOR CHANGE IN REGISTERED OFFICE

Shifting of Registered Office from one place to another within the local limits of any City, Town or Village

i. Calling of Board Meeting: Meeting of Board of Director should be called by giving 7 days notice to Directors

ii. Passing of Resolution: Resolution to shifting of registered office from one place to another within the local limits of any city, town or village to be passed at duly convened Board Meeting.

iii. Intimation to ROC: Notice of every change of the situation of the registered office, verified in the manner prescribed, after the date of incorporation of the company, shall be given to the Registrar within fifteen days of the change, Inform INC-22, who shall record the same.

   *Section 146(2) of companies Act, 1956 provided with the time limit of 30 days for filing intimation to ROC for change in Registered office address.

** Local Limits: “Local limits” should be taken to mean both the local body limits and the postal limits, and where the two do not coincide, the wider of the two.

Attachments of Form INC-22

• Proof of registered office address (Conveyance/ Lease deed/ Rent Agreement etc. along with the rent receipts is required to be attached).
• Copies of the utility bills (proof of evidence of any utility service like telephone, gas ,electricity etc. depicting the address of the premises not older than two months is required to be attached).
• Proof that the company is permitted to use the address as the registered office of the Company (Authorization from the owner or occupant of the premises along with proof of ownership or occupancy and it is mandatory if registered office is owned by any other entity/ person (not taken on lease by company).

Revised interest rate of PPF, SCSC, Sukanya Samridhi,NSC

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
18-March-2016

Interest Rates on various Small Savings Schemes for the 1st Quarter of 2016-17 notified;. Additional Interest Rate spreads which the Government allows on Small Savings Schemes like PPF, Senior Citizen Savings Scheme, Sukanya Samridhi Scheme and NSC etc. are being continued and included in the rates notified today.

From the year 2012-13, the interest rates on various Small Savings Schemes (SSS) are recalculated and notified in the month of March every year.  These rates are applicable for the next financial year.  This is being done in line with the recommendations of the Shyamala Gopinath Committee to ensure that the interest rates of Small Savings Schemes are market linked.

Accordingly, as done in the previous years, the interest rates for various Small Savings Schemes were due for recalculation in March 2016.  As notified on 16^th February, 2016, instead of annual resetting of interest rates for the next financial year, the interest rates from now on will be reset every quarter based on the G-Sec yields of the previous three months. Consequently, the interest rates for various Small Savings Schemes were recalculated with reference to the G-Sec yields of equivalent maturity for the months December 2015 to February 2016.  Based on this calculation, the interest rates on various Small Savings Schemes for the 1^st quarter of 2016-17 have been notified today. The rates of interest on various small savings schemes for the First Quarter of Financial Year 2016-17, on the basis of the interest compounding/payment built-in in the schemes, shall be as under:

Instrument	Rate of interest w.e.f. 01.04.2015 to 31.3.2016	Rate of interest w.e.f. 01.04.2016 to 30.6.2016
Savings Deposit	4.0	4.0
1 Year Time Deposit	8.4	7.1
2 Year Time Deposit	8.4	7.2
3 Year Time Deposit	8.4	7.4
5 Year Time Deposit	8.5	7.9
5 Year Recurring Deposit	8.4	7.4
5 Year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme	9.3	8.6
5 year Monthly Income Account Scheme	8.4	7.8
5 Year National Savings Certificate	8.5	8.1
Public Provident Fund Scheme	8.7	8.1
Kisan Vikas Patra	8.7	7.8 (will mature in 110 months)
Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme	9.2	8.6

This is a formula driven process.

Further, as notified earlier, the additional interest rate spreads which the Government allows on Small Savings Schemes like PPF, Senior Citizen Savings Scheme, Sukanya Samridhi Scheme, NSC etc. are being continued.  The additional spread for these Schemes are 25 basis points for PPF, 100 basis points for Senior Citizen Savings Scheme, 75 basis points for Sukanya Samridhi Scheme, 25 basis points for five year time deposit, 25 basis points for National Savings Certificate and 25 basis points for Monthly Income Scheme. These additional interest rate spreads are being continued and are included in the rates notified today.

The quarterly revision of interest rates will ensure that the interest rates under Small Savings Schemes are more dynamically related to the current market rates, thereby enabling the Banks to move their interest rates in line with current money market rates.

Rajya Sabha clears Real Estate Bill to make consumer the king

Press Information Bureau 
Government of India
Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation

Date: 10-March-2016 17:30 IST

Rajya Sabha clears Real Estate Bill seeking to make consumer the king

Bill to foster a happy alliance between consumers and developers, says Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu

Notoriety in real estate sector needs to be ended to encourage investment flows, says the Minister

If telecom sector with a few operators has a regulator, real estate sector with over 76,000 companies needs one-Shri Naidu

Original Bill of 2013 undergoes substantial changes for the better

Rajya Sabha today approved the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill,2016 that seeks to protect the interests of the large number of aspiring house buyers while at the same time enhancing the credibility of construction industry by promoting transparency, accountability and efficiency in execution of projects. The Bill seeks to put in place an effective regulatory mechanism for orderly growth of the sector which is the second largest employer after agriculture.

Moving the Bill pending in Rajya Sabha since 2013 for further consideration and passing, Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu stated that over the years the sector has acquired a degree of notoriety which needs to be addressed to enable enhanced flow of investments, for which the Government has announced several incentives in the Budget for 2016-17 and earlier.

Shri Naidu further said that consumer has become the king in telecom sectorfurther to introduction of a regulator. While there are only a few operators in telecom sector, a total of 76,044 companies are involved in real estate sector including 17,431 in Delhi, 17,010 in West Bengal, 11,160 in Maharashtra, 7,136 in Uttar Pradesh, 3,054 in Rajasthan, 3,004 in Tamil Nadu, 2,261 in Karnataka, 2,211 in Telangana, 2,121 in Haryana, 1,956 in Madhya Pradesh, 1,270 in Kerala, 1,202 in Punjab and 1,006 in Odisha.

Stating that real estate sector contributes about 9% GDP, the Minister informed the House that between 2011 and 2015, new projects in the range of 2,349 to 4,488 were launched every year amounting to a total of 17,526 projects with investment value of Rs.13.70 lakh cr in 27 cities including 15 state capitals. According to industry information, about 10 lakh buyers invest every year to own a house of their own.

Shri Naidu asserted that with so many operators in the sector and such huge investments at stake, regulating the real estate sector has become necessary in the interest of consumers and developers. He said: “Consumer shall be the king as in telecom sector and the developer obviously the queen. And there shall be a happy marriage between the two for both to live happily ever after and the Bill seeks to forge such a happy alliance for the benefit of real estate sector.”

The Minister said that several rounds of consultations were held with consumer and developer bodies, state governments and other stakeholders  before and after introduction of the Bill in Rajya Sabha in 2013 and  as a result, the Bill has undergone substantial changes benefitting the sector as a whole. Shri Naidu outlined the improvements made in the Bill of 2016 as follows:

1.The Government has gone beyond the recommendation of the Select Committee and now requiring developers to deposit 70% of the collections form buyers in a separate accounts towards the cost of construction including that of land as against a minimum of 50% suggested by the Select Committee;

2. Norms for registration of projects has been brought down to plot area of 500 sq.mts or 8 apartments as against 4,000 sq.mt proposed in the draft Bill in 2013 and 1,000 sq.mts or 12 apartments suggested by the Standing Committee;

3. Commercial real estate also brought under the ambit of the Bill and projects under construction are also required to be registered with the Regulatory Authority. About 17,000 projects are reported to be at various stages of development;

4.Capret area has been clearly defined which forms the basis for purchase of houses, eliminating any scope for any malpractices in transactions

5.Ending the earlier asymmetry which was in favour of developers, both consumers and developers will now have to pay same interest rate for any delays on their part;

6.Liability of developers for structural defects have been increased from 2 to 5 years and they can’t change plans without the consent of two thirds of allottees;

7.The Bill provides for arranging Insurance of Land title, currently not available in the market which benefits both the consumers and developers if land titles are later found to be defective;

8.Specific and reduced time frames have been prescribed for disposal of complaints by the Appellate Tribunals and Regulatory Authorities; and

9.A provision is now made for imprisonment of up to 3 years for developers and up to one year in case of real estate agents and consumers for any violation of Tribunals and Regulatory Authorities.

The Bill requires project promoters to register their projects with the Regulatory Authorities disclosing project information including details of promoter, project including schedule of implementation, lay out plan, land status, status of approvals, agreements along with details of real estate agents, contractors, architects, structural engineers etc. Shri Naidu said that this enables transparent, accountable and timely execution of projects.

The Minister further said that the Real Estate Bill,2016 enables the people meet their genuine aspirations of owning a house including those of urban poor by giving a fillip to affordable housing initiative under which the Government intends to enable construction of 2 crore by the year 2022 under Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana (Urban).

Chronology of events leading to the passage of Real Estate Bill by Rajya Sabha:

–Ministry of Law & Justice suggested a Central Law for regulation of real estate sector in July, 2011;

-Union Cabinet approved the Real Estate Bill, 2013 on June 4,2013;

-Bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha on August 14, 2013;

-Bill was referred to the Department Related Standing Committee on September 23,2013;

-Report of the Standing Committee was tabled in Rajya Sabha on February 13 and in Lok Sabha on February 17,2014;

-Attorney General upheld validity of central legislation for real estate sector on February 9,2015;

-Union Cabinet approved Official Amendments based on the recommendations of the Standing Committee on April 7,2015;

-Bill of 2013 and Official Amendments referred to the Select Committee of Rajya Sabha on May 6, 2015;

-Select Committee tables its report along with the Bill of 2015 on July 30,2015;

-Real Estate Bill, 2015 was approved by the Union Cabinet on December 9, 2015;

-Bill,2015 was listed for consideration and passing in Rajya Sabha on 22^nd and 23^rd December, 2015 but could not be taken up; and

-The Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Bill, 2016 passed by Rajya Sabha on March 10,2016.