Kamal Baruah
(kamal.baruah@yahoo.com)
As the deadline of July 31 for the filing of the Income Tax Return (ITR) is approaching rapidly, tax consultants are working until midnight to help cater for salaried individuals and other taxpayers. On the other hand, for corporations and other taxpayers who are required to get their accounts audited, the due date is October 31 of the assessment year. However, taxpayers are on the move for the collection of their income statements, such as Forms 16A, 16B, and other interest-earned certificates from deductors and financial institutions, and their days are passed being dragged from pillar to post.
Although the new tax regime attempts to demystify various tax structures with lower rates but with fewer deductions and exemptions relative to the old tax regime, taxpayers are not happy with TDS at source, especially for those with a higher income tax slab above 15 lakh. A closer look at India’s tax data reveals that around 2.24 crore people paid income tax in 2022–23. Why do India’s smaller taxpayers bear a heavier burden? Some of the facts were not only revealing but shocking too. Should taxing the untaxed now be necessary?
Chanakya in ‘Arthashastra’ advises rulers to collect taxes from the citizens as honeybees collect nectar from flowers—gently and without inflicting pain. Individuals hope that the upcoming budget will provide reasonable tax changes so that the government collects the right amount of taxes in an efficient manner and that taxpayers are empowered to build a nation. India’s middle class is angry at the talk of inequality, while the tax rate for individuals at 30% for over Rs 15 lakh of income is far higher than that for corporate tax at 22%. At the same time, the government must spend more on health, education, and social safety. Should the finance minister listen to the citizen’s call?
And I rushed to my tax consultant for ITR last weekend. The computation of total income was displayed at once, and it was accomplished on the laptop before submitting my total income and other data, like the last ITR. The amount payable on interest under 234 A/B/C is especially worrisome, as I saw a heavy penalty imposed for interest calculated up to July after the deduction of advance tax.
The TDS on a fixed deposit is 10% if your interest for the entire financial year exceeds Rs. 40,000 (Rs. 50,000 for senior citizens). Shockingly, the tax department doesn’t consider total interest earnings from all the banks and income from salary with interest from fixed deposits that finally imposed heavy penalties during ITR. I finally had to pay three-fourths of its penalty for dues of a few thousand.
In the days gone by, Advance Tax, Self-Assessment Tax, and Tax on Regular Assessment Taxes were paid at banks by filling out manual forms on Challan No. ITNS 280. Taxpayers are also offered a wide range of modes of payment, including net banking, debit cards, and credit cards. In the new functionality, taxpayers are given the option to use RTGS/NEFT and Payment Gateway modes to make payments through a challan form over the bank counter. This facility needs to be availed only after generating a challan (CRN) using the e-Pay Tax service on the e-Filing portal.
This year, there is another mode of tax payment through UPI. Mr. Sujan pointed me towards scanning the QR code on his laptop. I did it almost instantly, and the challan receipt was generated. The ITR was electronically transmitted and verified with the Aadhaar OTP. It seemed to me that filing the ITR was such a hassle, and there were pages of printouts of my ITR return acknowledgement stapled. I hope that by the end of July, this will be an all-time high when compared to a total of 7.78 crore ITRs filed in FY 2022–23. Paying taxes matters. Let’s join a committed taxpayer.