New
Delhi: The Finance Bill, 2007 has tightened penalty
provisions against tax evasion and has overhauled the
income-tax settlement commission procedures. The new
measures will come into effect on April 1, 2007.
Under
the new penalty system, evaders will have to pay a penalty
during search cases at 100-300 per cent of the amount
of tax evaded. This is a significant change from the
earlier practice of allowing evaders to give a statement
during the course of the search in lieu of penalty payments.
Also,
evaders will no longer be allowed to approach the settlement
commission.
This
is one of the four key changes made in settlement commission
procedures, senior revenue department officials say.
For
starters, the application to the commission will have
to be made together with the payment of the tax liability.
The application can be made only before the assessment
officer has completed proceedings, and not after.
Besides,
to cut delays, the current two-step procedure the commission
follows to rule on the admissibility of an application
has been changed to a 15-day time-bar, after which the
case will be deemed to have been admitted.
Also,
the settlement commission will have to dispose of petitions
within 180 days, after which the case will go back to
the assessment officer.