In order to tighten the noose on those who don’t file income tax returns (ITR) despite earning taxable income and discourage cash transactions, the Finance Act 2020 introduced higher TDS (tax deducted at source) rates on cash withdrawals for those who do not file ITR which was made applicable from 1st July, 2020.
Section 194N is applicable in case of cash withdrawals of more than Rs 1 crore during a financial year. This section will apply to all the sum of money or an aggregate of sums withdrawn from a particular payer in a financial year.
The section will apply to withdrawals made by any taxpayer including:
The following payers are covered under this section:
The tax will be deducted by the payer while making payment to any individual in cash from a taxpayer’s bank account on the amount in excess of Rs 1 crore.
The limit of Rs 1 crore in a financial year is with respect to per bank or post office account and not a taxpayer’s individual account. For example, a person having three bank accounts with three different banks, he can withdraw cash of Rs 1 crore * 3 = Rs 3 crores without any TDS.
The cash withdrawal made by any taxpayer from the bank accounts maintained by such recipient will only attract TDS under Section 194N. For instance, if a bank makes a cash payment of more than Rs 1 crore in an FY to its account holder (i.e any taxpayer) from the account maintained by such taxpayer, then the bank will have to deduct TDS.
In the case of a payment made by a taxpayer through a bearer cheque issued to third party, in excess of Rs 1 crore in a financial year, the recipient of the cash is not the account holder, but a third party. In such a case, the payment is not made by the bank to the account holder.
Separately, in case of business payments, payment made through a bearer cheque would not be allowed as an expenditure under section 40(A)(3) of the income tax act. Any payment made exceeding Rs 10,000 per day (in a single transaction or in aggregate) is not allowed as business expenditure.
The payer will have to deduct TDS at the rate of 2% on the cash payments/withdrawals of more than Rs 1 crore in a financial year under Section 194N. Thus, in the above example, TDS would be on Rs 50,000 at 2% i.e. Rs 1,000.
In case the individidual receiving the money has not filed income tax return for three years immediately preceding the year, then the TDS is 2% on the cash payments/withdrawals of more than Rs 20 lakh and up to Rs 1 crore, and 5% for withdrawal exceeding Rs 1 crore.
This Article was authored by Tushant a passionate blogger by .
Co-founded Tax Ninja with the aim to serve knowledge digitally.
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