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New Budget 2024 rule: Why Income Tax Department is likely to issue a huge number of tax notices this month

Income Tax Notice on the way? According to the amended regulation... Read More
Income Tax Notice on the way? The Income Tax Department is gearing up to send out a large number of notices in the coming month, as there are concerns that many taxpayers might escape the tax net due to the impending implementation of the new reassessment law on September 1, 2024.

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According to the amended regulation announced in Budget 2024, the tax authorities can only go back a maximum of five years to reassess a taxpayer's records if the escaped income is at least Rs 50 lakh, and three years for an amount less than Rs 50 lakh. Previously, they could reassess cases up to 10 years old.

According to an ET report, tax officials are now faced with the challenge of compiling and corroborating data on tax and income mismatches for the financial years 2013-14 to 2017-18 within the next few weeks, as these years will become time-barred for reassessment from September 1, 2024.

The I-T department relies on information from various sources, such as banks, property registrars, and search findings from the investigation wing, to build reassessment cases.

Taxing Times

A tax officers' body has raised concerns about the feasibility of issuing notices under Section 148 (or 148A) in a large number of cases within a single month, given the overburdened nature of the jurisdictional assessing officers and the time-consuming process of obtaining sanction from the chief commissioner, who is the specified authority for such notices.

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Moreover, the law provides taxpayers with the right to explain their position before reassessment orders are finalized, a process that most believe cannot be completed by the end of August.

Also Read | ITR refund status for FY 2023-24: How to check income tax refund status online - here’s a step-by-step guide for incometax.gov.in & NSDL websites

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has been urged by its officers to postpone the effective date of the proposed amendment. However, this suggestion is unlikely to be well-received by corporations and high net worth individuals.

"Capping the reassessment period at five years was a great decision as it would reduce hassles and litigation. But if the department fears there could be a genuine loss of revenue as it may not be possible to wrap up several matters by August 31, the government can think of strict parameters where time-bound cases can be selectively reopened - based on trails of steps taken in identifying escaped income," said Mitil Chokshi, partner at CA firm Chokshi & Chokshi.

"Taxpayers may expect a rush of reassessment notices in August 2024. These notices are likely to be for the AYs 2018-19 and prior to that. It is pertinent to note that the Bombay High Court in a recent ruling in a case of Hexaware Technologies has taken a view on a proviso introduced in 2021, which can be interpreted to mean that AY 2017-18 (and prior years) got time barred on March 31, 2024. These reassessment notices (for AYs 2017-18 and prior) are likely to rake up new interpretation issues in the already muddled reassessment provisions," said Ashish Mehta, partner at law firm Khaitan & Co.

The current situation is similar to the conflict between the Income Tax office and taxpayers in 2021. The reassessment law was amended in April 2021, allowing the tax office to reopen 10-year-old tax returns if the total undisclosed income exceeded Rs 50 lakh and reassess 4-year-old matters if the amount was less than Rs 50 lakh.

Also Read | Latest NPS rules 2024: How much tax will you save with new NPS contribution benefit under new regime after Budget 2024?

However, this change led to over 10,000 writ petitions being filed by companies, arguing that they were not given sufficient time to explain and that the notices were issued without considering the carve-out that cases which couldn't be reopened earlier couldn't be reassessed under the new law.

The Supreme Court invoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution on May 4, 2022, to uphold all reassessment notices issued after March 31, 2021. However, the court left room for judicial proceedings based on the merits of each case, and several such matters are currently pending before the court.

New Tax Regime 2023 vs 2024 After Budget: How Much Income Tax Will Salaried Taxpayers Save & How Do New Tax Slabs Compare To Old Regime?

Latest Income Tax Slabs FY 2024-2025 New Tax Regime 2023 vs New Tax Regime 2024 vs Old Tax Regime: Which income tax regime should you opt for post Budget 2024 - old regime or the revised new tax regime? How much income tax benefit will you get from the revised new tax regime, if you are already filing returns under the existing new regime? FM Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the standard deduction hike under the new tax regime and the new income tax slabs will result in salaried taxpayers saving Rs 17,500. How much income tax will you save at your salary level? We take a look at 10 tables sourced from EY to help you understand the new income tax changes and what they mean for taxpayers at various salary levels:

Latest Income Tax Slabs FY 2024-25 Under Revised New Tax Regime: FM Nirmala Sitharaman raised the standard deduction limit under the new tax regime to Rs 75,000 from the earlier limit of Rs 50,000. The tax slabs were also changed as detailed in the table.

Existing new regime 2023 versus revised new regime 2024: Let’s consider a scenario where an individual salaried taxpayer is earning Rs 5.5 lakh. In this scenario, if the taxpayer is already under the new (existing) regime, then there is no change under the revised new tax regime. Under both scenarios, the individual has to pay zero tax.

Existing new regime 2023 versus revised new regime 2024: For an individual having an income of Rs 10 lakh, the revised new income tax regime will bring a benefit of Rs 10,400, since the total tax outgo will reduce from Rs 54,600 under the existing new regime to Rs 44,200.

Existing new regime 2023 versus revised new regime 2024: Let’s now consider a salaried taxpayer with an income of Rs 20 lakh. In the existing new income tax regime versus revised new income tax regime comparison, the tax outgo will reduce by Rs 18,200.

​Existing new regime 2023 versus revised new regime 2024: For income levels above Rs 50 lakh, the surcharge kicks in. In our example, we are considering an income of Rs 65 lakh. The total tax saving under the revised new tax regime will be Rs 20,020 as against the existing new tax regime.

​Existing new regime 2023 versus revised new regime 2024: If an individual taxpayer has an income of Rs 6 crore, then under the revised new income tax regime, the tax benefit would be Rs 22,750 compared to the existing new tax regime.

Old versus revised new tax regime: Let us consider an individual with Rs 5.5 lakh income, who avails no deductions and exemptions except for standard deduction. For such a salaried taxpayer, the tax outgo under both the old and revised new tax regime is zero.

Old versus revised new tax regime: At a salary of Rs 7.75 lakh, for an individual availing Rs 50,000 standard deduction and Rs 50,000 Section 80C benefits under the old regime, the tax outgo is Rs 49,400. However, if this individual were to opt for the revised new income tax regime, then the tax outgo would be zero - which means a tax benefit of Rs 49,400 for switching from the old to the revised new tax regime.

Old versus revised new tax regime: At a Rs 20 lakh salary level, for an individual availing Rs 4 lakh as deductions and exemptions (including common ones like housing loan deductions/HRA and Section 80C) under the old income tax regime, the revised new tax regime would help save tax of Rs 26,000!


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