October 18 in New Delhi, India: A statement from the Ministry of Finance says that the new rules from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) for combining income-tax crimes are meant to make the process easier and more open to users.

The rules were released on Thursday as part of the Finance Minister’s budget update. They are meant to make the compounding process easier and faster.

The new rules were made to make the process easier and more available for taxes by getting rid of many of the complicated parts of the old ones.

“The guidelines are expected to facilitate the stakeholders by reducing complexities arising out of existing multiple guidelines, simplifying the compounding procedure and lowering the compounding charges” the ministry said on Thursday.

One of the most important changes is that offenses are no longer put into groups, which makes the process easier for taxes. There is also no longer a cap on how many times a person or business can file an application for compounding.

Reports from the ministry say that applicants can now file a new application after fixing any problems with their earlier ones. This was not possible under the old rules.

Under parts 275A and 276B of the Income-tax Act, the new rules also make it possible for crimes to be made worse. There used to be a 36-month limit on when taxpayers could file compounding forms after the complaint was made. This limit has now been lifted, giving taxpayers more options.

Companies and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) will benefit from a big change that was made. The main accused no longer has to make the application for compounding any longer. Instead, the main accused and any co-accused can have their crimes reduced once they pay the adding fees. This applies to both the main accused and any co-accused.

“To facilitate compounding of offences by companies and HUFs, the requirement of main accused filing the application has been dispensed with,” it said.

In addition to making the process easier, the charges for combining have also been made more sense. There are no longer any interest charges for paying compounding fees late.

Not only that, but the rates for different offenses, like TDS failures, have been lowered from 2%, 3%, and 5% to a single rate of 1.5% per month. A easier way to figure out compounding fees for not filing reports has also been added, and people who are jointly responsible for the tax will no longer be charged separate compounding fees.

These updated rules will take the place of all earlier rules on the subject and will apply to both new and ongoing applications from the date they are released.

This is another step the government has taken to make it easier for businesses and people to follow tax rules.