Income Tax Return Filing Update: Finance Ministry Provides 'ITR Filing Compliance Check' Functionality for Commercial Banks to Keep Track of Cash Withdrawals by Non-Filers

New Delhi, September 2: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) -- under the Union Finance Ministry -- on Wednesday issued a circular informing that the department had provided 'ITR filing compliance check' functionality for scheduled commercial banks to check the income tax (IT) return filing status of PANs in bulk mode. The new function will enable commercial banks to furnish information about ITR filing and keep track of cash withdrawals by the non-filers and help in curbing black money.

Informing about the latest development, the CBDT said in its press release, "The data on cash withdrawal indicated that the huge amount of cash is being withdrawn by the persons who have never filed income-tax returns. To ensure filing of the returns by these people and to keep tack on cash withdrawals by the non-filers, and to curb black money, the Finance Act, 2020, w.e.f. 1st July 2020 further amended Income Tax Act, 1961 to lower the threshold of the cash withdrawals to Rs 20 lakh for the applicability of TDS for the non-filers and also mandated TDS at the higher rate of 5% on cash withdrawals exceeding Rs 1 crore by the non-filers." Finance Ministry Orders Publishing of All Calendars, Diaries And Other Similar Materials by Govt Depts to be Done Digitally.

The Ministry of Finance further added, "The Department (CBDT) has now released a new functionality 'ITR Filing Compliance Check' which will be available to Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) to check the IT Return filing status of PANs in bulk mode."

Here's the press release by CBDT:

The Finance Ministry also stated that it had already provided a functionality 'Verification of applicability under section 194N' on www.incometaxindiafiling.gov.in for banks and post offices since July 1, 2020. With this, banks and post offices can get the appropriate rate if TDS under section 194N of Income Tax Act, 1961 by entering the PAN of the person who is withdrawing cash.

Adding more, the Union Ministry stated that scheduled commercial banks can use API based exchange to automate and integrate the process with the bank's core banking solution. The Ministry asked the SCBs to document and implement appropriate information security policies and procedures with a clearly defined role and responsibilities to ensure the security of information.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 02, 2020 07:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).