Beyond Layoff

Indians are getting ready to file their Income Tax Returns. After extensions, the last date for filing individual tax returns for AY20-21 filing is 31st December 2020, and most likely it won't be extended again. Some Indian Income tax payers are eligible to receive a "Certificate of Appreciation" from the Income Tax Department.  This initiative of the Modi government is a step towards acknowledging the contribution of taxpayers.   Taxpayers are eligible to  receive a certificate of appreciation based on the amount of tax they paid.  Depending on the amount of tax paid, the four categories identified by CBDT for individual taxpayers are: Platinum: For those taxpayers who have contributed Rs 1 crore and above as tax  Gold: For those taxpayers who have contributed between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore as tax  Silver: For those taxpayers who have contributed between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 50 lakh as tax  Bronze: For those taxpayers who have contributed between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1

We seem to be seeing frequent news articles about well-paid Indian techies finding ways to defraud the government and claim fraudulent tax refunds.  A few months ago, Investigators from Hyderabad's Central Crime Station (CCS) busted at least 200 IT employees for faking disability and chronic illness of family members to claim income tax refunds fraudulently. The CCS sleuths filed a chargesheet against two income tax practitioners, N Srikanth Goud, 43, and Mohammed Khaleel, 34. The I-T department suffered a loss of Rs 1.36 crore from the case. ( link ) In yet another case in Bengaluru, Income Tax department sleuths announced that they bust a tax refund scam and arrested the accountant.  The directors general of income tax, Karnataka and Goa, have busted an income tax refund scam in Bengaluru by apprehending a city-based chartered accountant for abetting tax evasion. However, the sleuths haven't disclosed the suspect's name. The suspect would file revised re