The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) plan to revive companies struck off the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) may not be achieved within the June 30 deadline.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) plan to dispose of assessment cases involving companies struck off by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) after demonetisation may not be achieved within the June 30 deadline.
CBDT wants to revive these companies so that it can collect outstanding taxes from them.
Sources told Moneycontrol that the CBDT and MCA are still discussing if there is a statutory requirement for the companies to be revived so that tax claims can be made on them.
This apart, many tax officials being on election duty too has slowed the process.
The CBDT had issued a central action plan last month setting a deadline of June 30 to complete filing of references before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in case of “struck off’ companies under 248 (5) of the Companies Act, 2013.
However, the MCA feels there is no need to revive struck off companies for collecting the tax outstanding against them.
A source in the MCA told Moneycontrol said that section of 248 of the Companies Act allowed for collection of statutory taxes from companies without having to revive them.
The CBDT has identified more than 4000 struck off companies for collection of taxes.
Another source said that the CBDT did not respond when MCA intimated it before striking off the companies soon after demonetisation.
A tax expert who did not want to be identified said raising tax demands on these companies did not make sense. “The MCA struck off these companies because they did not have any business worth mentioning, how can they be asked to pay tax,” the tax expert said.
An income tax official said that the department will also focus on companies, which are going to approach to NCLT under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
The department recently realised that it will have to get itself listed as an operational creditor of a company in order to be eligible to obtain its dues during the debt resolution process at the IBC.
So far, for instance, the Income Tax Department Mumbai has filed not a single application seeking to be listed as an operational creditor in IBC.
