The Lok Sabha passed the Taxation and Other Laws Bills 2020, amending 8 other legislations to provide time in payment of GST and other tax amidst this pandemic.
The Bill provided with certain benefits-
- Any person will not be held liable for a penalty if they pay tax after the due date. Any extreme delay will lead to the payment of interest at a rate not exceeding 0.75% per month.
- If any unforeseen situation arises, the bill would provide for the extension of the deadline for GST related actions as per the GST Council.
- The time limit for resolution of disputes related to direct and indirect tax shall be extended.
- While calculating the income under the Income Tax Act, any donation made to the PM Care Fund shall be deducted.
Various objections were raised in this relation. It included the transparency of the PM Care Fund and also the use of PMs name in the fund. It was argued that the fund lacked transparency about its donors and the work carried under it. Also, the use of the PMs name in the fund created a false impression on the minds of people that the fund is a Government authority which actually was not the fact.
To this BJP MP, Nishikant Dubey cleared that the fund was completely transparent and was established under Registration Act, 1908. Also, the fund is independent of Budgetary allocations and its validity has been upheld by the Supreme Court.
