EXPLAINED: What Is Taxation And Other Laws (Relaxation & Amendment of Certain Provisions) Bill 2020?

The Bill seeks replacement of the Taxation and other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 which was promulgated on March 31 this year.

**EDS: VIDEO GRAB** New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in the Lok Sabha during the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament, at Parliament House in New Delhi, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020. (LSTV/PTI Photo)(PTI19-09-2020_000228B)

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Saturday passed the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Bill, 2020, which was introduced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on Friday amid opposition din.  What is the Bill about?

• The Bill seeks  replacement of the Taxation and other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 which was promulgated on March 31 this year.
• As per Finance Minister Sitharaman, the ordinance was necessary to defer various compliance deadlines under GST and Income Tax (I-T) Act during the COVID-19 times.
• It also proposes to amend the Income-tax Act, 1961, the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017; the Finance Act, 2019; the Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020 and the Finance Act, 2020 which are administered by the Department of Revenue through two boards, namely, the Central Board of Direct Taxes and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes
• Thus, no additional expenditure is contemplated on the enactment of the Bill.
• While introducing the Bill, Sitharaman said it provides for extension of various time limits for completion or compliance of actions under the specified Acts and reduction in interest, waiver of penalty and prosecution for delay in payment of certain taxes or levies during the specified period.
• The reliefs include extending deadlines for filing returns and for linking PAN and Aadhaar.
• The bill seeks to give tax exemption for contributions made to PM-CARES Fund, which was set up in March in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
• The bill seeks to make faceless assessment applicable to at least eight processes under the I-T Act, including for collection and recovery of tax and gathering of information.

Criticism: The Bill sparked a debate on the transparency of PM CARES Fund.The opposition alleged that despite already having a National Disaster Relief Fund, there is no justification of creating a private fund. They said there is no transparency about its donors and welfare works carried under it. “PM-CARES Fund is a public charitable trust so it was suggested that CAG audit is not required. But, if those who are demanding CAG audit for this trust, are they ready for audit of all the trusts being managed by one family?,” Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur said. The Trustees of the PM-CARES Fund are all ex officio members, such as Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance, he said.