As it is well known that the income tax department has allowed Aadhaar card holders to use the biometric id number in lieu of the Permanent Account Number (PAN). But as per new provision of Income Tax, fine of Rs. 10,000 may be levied in case of wrong Aadhar Number. As per the latest amendments in the Finance Bill 2019, not only allowed people to use Aadhaar in lieu of PAN but also introduced a penalty for giving a false Aadhaar number. However, the new penalty rules are applicable only in cases where you are using Aadhaar in lieu of PAN and where quoting PAN is mandatory according to the income tax department rules. It is well known that although Aadhaar is issued by the Unique Identity Authority of India, yet the fine is not imposed by UIDAI but by the income tax department. Under Section 272B of the Income Tax Act, 1961, the department can impose a penalty in case of default in complying with provisions relating to PAN, i.e., failure to obtain, quote, or authenticate PAN.
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has raised
objections to the cadre restructuring proposal of the Central Board of Excise
and Customs (CBEC), delaying a resolution to the acute manpower crisis
affecting the indirect tax administration, which is struggling to collect 20%
more revenue from central excise, customs and service tax this year from a year
ago. CBEC has a revenue target of Rs 5.6 lakh crore this fiscal, 46% of the
Centre's gross tax revenue.
The annual growth in indirect tax collections has come down
sharply since 2011-12. It is reckoned that in addition to the economic
slowdown, the CBEC's human resource crunch has also hit the collection drive.
CBEC's demand for more secretary-level posts and field officers to bolster its
revenue collection drive is now likely to be referred to a committee of
secretaries or to a group of ministers for further review instead of being
placed before the cabinet for approval as expected earlier.
With 68,000 personnel at different levels, CBEC has only two
thirds of its sanctioned strength at present. The tax research unit (TRU), a
vital part of the CBEC, has about 12 vacancies at the moment. Officers said
vacancies that arise from retirement are not being filled because the cadre
recast proposal aimed at adding another 20,000 personnel was under
consideration.
“To meet the fiscal deficit target, it is desirable to raise
revenue, not cut productive expenditure. If revenue collection lags, public
borrowing goes up,” said a person familiar with the development. The Centre
will borrow Rs 4.84 lakh crore (net) this fiscal.
What has triggered a review is DoPT's questions on the proposal to
promote non-IRS officers at the fag end of their career to IRS rank. CBEC had
suggested creating about 4,000 temporary assistant commissioner-level posts to
be filled by way of promoting group B (non-IRS) officers from the rank below.
Sources told
FE that DoPT has pushed for creating more temporary AC posts to be filled
through promotions will distort the government of India service rule that 50:50
ratio has to be maintained between directly recruited IRS officers (through the
UPSC) and officers promoted from the cadre below.
The proposal
was made by the Sixth Pay Commission heeding to the demands of group B non-IRS
officers such as superintendents who join the service as inspectors but get
only one promotion in their long careers. To avoid stagnation, they wanted the
chance to retire as an IRS officer at the level of assistant commissioner.
“If we do not
go ahead with the proposal, promotions from group B to group A will get
affected. It will affect the aspirations of our group B officers. It is a
ticklish issue that has cropped up now. If it goes to a group of ministers, a
decision might take longer,” said an official privy to the development, who
also held the DoPT’s view as a valid one needing careful handling.
The
development is set to delay further the cadre restructuring of CBEC in the wake
of the forthcoming national polls ahead of which a model code of conduct will
limit the government’s ability to finalise and implement it.
Cadre
restructuring proposal for the income tax department has already been notified
and delays in the same for CBEC has put the indirect tax administration at a
disadvantage. Sources said chief commissioners in the I-T department in large
zones are designated as special secretaries now, unlike their counterparts in
CBEC.
Also, unlike in the case of CBDT cadre recast, the Cabinet
Secretariat had demanded an assurance from CBEC that it would meet the revenue
targets for the year. Many field officers believe linking revenue collection
performance with the cadre review was unfair. They also point out that senior
officials in CBEC get secretary rank after putting in many more years in
service than their counterparts in other central services.
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