If CBDT's prediction proves correct then the government treasury can be filled only through direct tax. CBDT Chairman Ravi Aggarwal said that direct tax collection in the current financial year (2024-25) is expected to exceed the target of Rs 22.07 lakh crore. Aggarwal also said that taxpayers who have not disclosed foreign income or assets in their income tax returns have time till December 31 to file their revised returns for the financial year 2023-24. The tax department is sending SMS and e-mails to those taxpayers who have not disclosed high value assets. However, he did not tell how many taxpayers such SMS and e-mails have been sent.
Inaugurating the Taxpayer Lounge at the India International Trade Fair (IITF), Agarwal also said that more than 6,000 suggestions have been received regarding the review of the Income Tax Act to make the language simple and easy to understand. . Aggarwal said that we are hopeful that we will exceed the budget target of tax collection. Other tax collections including company and personal tax have increased.
According to the latest data of CBDT tax collection, from April 1 to November 10, the net direct tax collection has increased by 15.41 percent to Rs 12.11 lakh crore. This includes net company tax of Rs 5.10 lakh crore and non-company tax of Rs 6.62 lakh. Non-company tax includes tax paid by individuals, Hindu undivided families, etc. During this period, Rs 35,923 crore was received under Securities Transaction Tax (STT). The government has set a target of raising Rs 22.07 lakh crore from director tax for the current financial year. In this, a target has been set to receive Rs 10.20 lakh crore from company tax and Rs 11.87 lakh crore from personal income tax and other taxes.
Regarding informing the taxpayers about non-disclosure of foreign assets, Agarwal said that the tax department receives all the details about foreign assets from different countries under the arrangement of automatic exchange of information and income tax returns. matches such details with the disclosures in the. He said the basic objective of this step is to remind taxpayers about declaration of foreign assets. They can file revised returns till December 31. Foreign assets include foreign bank accounts, financial interest in any business/entity, immovable property outside the country, foreign equity and other assets.
Asked about the progress in reviewing the income tax law, the CBDT chief said public consultation is ongoing and the department has received more than 6,000 suggestions. He said that I invite taxpayers to come forward and give suggestions about better activities and rules at the international level. It is noteworthy that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act, 1961 in the budget. CBDT has constituted an internal committee to oversee the review and make the Act simple, clear and easy to understand. The objective of this initiative is to reduce legal disputes regarding tax and provide greater certainty to taxpayers in tax matters.
