Email
Print
ShareMumbai: Much to the relief of confused taxpayers, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Tuesday said a person does not need to mention his or her Unique Transaction Number (UTN) while filing tax return.
The CBDT, on Tuesday, stated: "Taxpayers filing their income tax returns for the assessment year (AY) 2009-10, or any earlier AY, may continue to file their returns without mentioning the UTN."
Income earned during the financial year 2008-09 is to be assessed during the year 2009-10. The CBDT clarified that the filing of returns without the UTN shall be treated as valid.
In an earlier circular dated May 21, the CBDT had said: "The credit for a TDS claim will be allowed if the assessee quotes the relevant UTN for every TDS." This meant that if an individual filing tax did not mention the UTN against a TDS transaction, then the tax already paid would not have been considered paid. The facility to generate the UTNs was not in place because the change was introduced nearly two months after the end of the last financial year.
DNA had on June 17 brought to light the issues linked to the implementation of the UTN. The CBDT had then asked taxpayers to hold on to their returns and wait for clarifications. On the delay caused by the UTN requirement in the filing of returns, Patel said: "The CBDT has been known to issue clarifications or deferment at the very last minute."
The ideal date now for implementation would be July 2010, say experts. Sandeep Shanbhag of Wonderland Consultants said: "Implementation should be done when both the tax-deductor -- the National Securities Depository Ltd (which is supposed to issue the UTNs) -- and the taxpayer are ready, especially when the infrastructure is in place to generate and distribute the UTNs."
