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income tax

29 March 2016

In the history of political parties in India, the rise and fall of Janata Party must form an important chapter.

24 September 2013

The Bar Council of India (BCI) wants chartered accountants and auditors banned from advising on income tax matters of values below Rs 60 lakh, therefore leaving the domain exclusively to advocates, reported the New Indian Express.

The regulator has sent a communication dated 11 September to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in Delhi and the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) in Bangalore to delete clauses in Section 288(2) of the Income Tax Act 1995 that allow persons other than advocates from advising on tax matters, if the value of the matter is below Rs 60 lakh.

The BCI was acting on the report of its members S Prabakaran and Rameshchandra G Shah, which was considered at its 28 July meeting.

According to the report:

“Originally, under sec 44AB of IT Act, persons carrying on business having turn over exceeding Rs 60 lakh per year have to submit Tax Audit Report in Form 3CD duly signed only by CAs. The Act was redefined, and sec 44AD added to it in April, 2011, which included all business class assessees having a turn over `60 lakh and below within the ambit of tax audit. In view of the redefined clause, assessees approaching the CAs can declare less income and pay less tax. If they approach a legal professional, they have to declare fixed percentage of income and pay more tax, because of no authority to attach such Tax Audit Report. Then, nobody will approach the legal professionals and they will be indirectly threatened to extinction from income tax practice. This will amount to virtual withdrawal of the right conferred on legal professionals under Sec 288(2)(iii) of IT Act.”

23 July 2010

Legally India newsletterIt appears there is just no winning in India for foreign law firms.

As though the opposition to them practising law here is not enough, the Indian Revenue Services (IRS) too are making their life hard.

20 July 2010

four-lions-indiaFriday's Mumbai Income Appellate Tax Tribunal (ITAT) ruling against Linklaters makes potentially all overseas professional services and law firms subject to income tax in India for the last six years or more if their staff visit India for 90 days in aggregate per year. The repercussions could be serious, according to Indian tax lawyers.

19 July 2010

rupeesA Mumbai Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has found that Linklaters should pay income tax in India on all India-related profits after applying a retrospective Finance Bill 2010 amendment to section 9(1) of the Income Tax Act, going against the latest decision in the Clifford Chance tax battle that is currently in the Indian Supreme Court.

09 November 2009

CliffordChance-London-officeThe Supreme Court of India has requested Clifford Chance to provide details of its India-billings of more than a decade ago in its long-running dispute against the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax (DCIT). The case is important to determine international firms' income tax liabilities while billing for work in India.

08 August 2009

mail_at_triIndian law firms are famously enamoured with the letters of the alphabet. But is it rubbing off on the Indian tax office?

05 August 2009

governmentIndia_thThe Income Tax Department raided the Mumbai offices of ALMT Legal and AZB & Partners late last week looking for information related to clients and offshore transactions. The raids were not related to either of the law firms' own tax positions.