Income Tax - Residency Certificate must for Foreign Investors - How They Report

By Vijay Kumar

REPORTING of Tax matters is a very casual matter for the leading newspapers. Yesterday a very highly respected newspaper that is taken as the Gospel Truth by many readers, reported,

"According to a notification issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on September 17, 2012, the amendments to the Income Tax Act, 1961, will take effect from April 1, 2013, and apply in relation to assessment year 2013-14 and subsequent years. The notification, in effect, amends Section 90 and Section 90A of the I-T Act dealing with taxation of foreign investment and tax benefits under DTAAs."

The Finance Act 2012 itself stipulated that the amendments will take effect from 1-4-2013; there was no need for any notification for this. The Notification cannot amend the Act. The newspaper goes on…

Under Section 90 (4) of the Act, as inserted by the Finance Act, 2013, with effect from April 1, 2012, it is provided that an assessee, not being a resident, to whom an agreement referred to in sub-section (1) of Section 90 applies,...

Finance Act 2013 is yet to be born!