Budget 2021-22 + FINANCE Bill, 2021

Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) amendment

The Income Declaration Scheme, 2016 (the Scheme) contained in Chapter-IX of the Finance Act, 2016 provided an opportunity to the persons who had not disclosed any income in the past to come clean and make payment of tax, surcharge and penalty as per the provisions of the Scheme. The Scheme commenced on 01.06.2016.

Section 187 of the Finance Act, 2016 inter alia, provides that the tax, surcharge and penalty payable under the Scheme shall be paid on or before the specified date and if the declarant failed to pay such amount, the declaration filed by the declarant shall be deemed invalid. Further, section 191 of the Finance Act, 2016, inter alia, provides that any amount of tax, surcharge and penalty paid in pursuance of a declaration made under the Scheme shall not be refundable. A proviso was inserted in section 191 of the Finance Act, 2016 vide Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019 empowering the Board to specify a class of persons to whom such tax paid in excess shall be refundable. It is now proposed to amend the proviso of section 191 of the Finance Act, 2016, so as to provide that the excess amount of tax, surcharge or penalty paid in pursuance of a declaration made under the Scheme shall be refundable to the specified class of persons without payment of any interest.

This amendment will take effect retrospectively from 1st June, 2016.

[Clause 159]

 

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Full Text:

Budget 2021-22 + FINANCE Bill, 2021

Refund of excess tax under Income Declaration Scheme now payable without interest to specified persons, retrospectively effective. The proviso to section 191 of the Finance Act, 2016 is amended to permit refund of excess tax, surcharge or penalty paid pursuant to declarations under the Income Declaration Scheme, 2016 to a specified class of persons without payment of any interest; this amendment is to take effect retrospectively from 1st June, 2016. Section 187's deeming provision that a declaration is invalid if the tax, surcharge and penalty are not paid by the specified date remains in place.