Presumptive taxation scheme for persons having income from profession

The simplified presumptive taxation scheme is extended to persons earning professional income. According to government, this scheme will help to rationalize the presumptive taxation scheme and to reduce the compliance burden of the small tax payers having income from profession and to facilitate the ease of doing business.

In this regard, new section 44ADA is proposed to be inserted in the Act to provide for estimating the income of an assessee who is engaged in any profession referred to in sub-section (1) of section 44AA such as legal, medical, engineering or architectural profession or the profession of accountancy or technical consultancy or interior decoration or any other profession as is notified by the Board in the Official Gazette and whose total gross receipts does not exceed fifty lakh rupees in a previous year, at a sum equal to fifty per cent of the total gross receipts, or, as the case may be , a sum higher than the aforesaid sum earned by the assessee.

44ADA. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in sections 28 to 43C, in the case of an assessee, being a resident in India, who is engaged in a profession referred to in sub-section (1) of section 44AA and whose total gross receipts do not exceed fifty lakh rupees in a previous year, a sum equal to fifty per cent. of the total gross receipts of the assessee in the previous year on account of such profession or, as the case may be, a sum higher than the aforesaid sum claimed to have been earned by the assessee, shall be deemed to be the profits and gains of such profession chargeable to tax under the head “Profits and gains of business or profession”.

(2) Any deduction allowable under the provisions of sections 30 to 38 shall, for the purposes of sub-section (1), be deemed to have been already given full effect to and no further deduction under those sections shall be allowed.

(3) The written down value of any asset used for the purposes of profession shall be deemed to have been calculated as if the assessee had claimed and had been actually allowed the deduction in respect of the depreciation for each of the relevant assessment years.

(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this section, an assessee who claims that his profits and gains from the profession are lower than the profits and gains specified in sub-section (1) and whose total income exceeds the maximum amount which is not chargeable to income-tax, shall be required to keep and maintain such books of account and other documents as required under sub-section (1) of section 44AA and get them audited and furnish a report of such  audit as required under section 44AB.’

The scheme will apply to such resident assessee who is an individual, Hindu undivided family or partnership firm but not Limited Liability partnership firm.

Under the scheme, the assessee will be deemed to have been allowed the deductions under section 30 to 38. Accordingly, the written down value of any asset used for the purpose of the profession of the assessee will be deemed to have been calculated as if the assessee had claimed and had actually been allowed the deduction in respect of depreciation for the relevant assessment years.

It is also proposed that the assessee will not be required to maintain books of account under sub-section (1) of section 44AA and get the accounts audited under section 44AB in respect of such income unless the assessee claims that the profits and gains from the aforesaid profession are lower than the profits and gains deemed to be his income under sub-section (1) of section 44ADA and his income exceeds the maximum amount which is not chargeable to income-tax.

These amendments will take effect from 1st April, 2017 and will, accordingly, apply in relation to the assessment year 2017-18 and subsequent years.

Increase in threshold limit for audit for persons having income from profession

Under the existing provisions of section 44AB of the Act every person carrying on a profession is required to get his accounts audited if the total gross receipts in a previous year exceed twenty five lakh rupees.

In order to reduce the compliance burden, it is proposed to increase the threshold limit of total gross receipts, specified under section 44AB for getting accounts audited, from twenty five lakh rupees to fifty lakh rupees in the case of persons carrying on profession.

These amendments will take effect from 1st April, 2017 and will, accordingly, apply to the assessment year 2017-18 and subsequent assessment years.