Under the existing provisions of section 194C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 payment to contractors is subject to tax deduction at source (TDS) at the rate of 1% in case the payee is an individual or Hindu undivided family and at the rate of 2% in case of other payees if such payment exceeds Rs. 30,000 or aggregate of such payment in a financial year exceeds Rs. 75,000.
Prior to 1.10.2009, section 194C of the Act provided for exemption from TDS to an individual transporter who did not own more than two goods carriage at any time during the previous year. Subsequently, Finance (No.2) Act, 2009 substituted section 194C of the Act with effect from 1.10.2009, which inter alia provided for non- deduction of tax from payments made to the contractor during the course of plying, hiring and leasing goods carriage if the contractor furnishes his Permanent Account Number (PAN) to the payer.
The memorandum explaining the provisions of Finance (No.2) Bill, 2009 indicates that the intention was to exempt only small transport operators (as defined in section 44AE of the Act) from the purview of TDS on furnishing of Permanent Account Number (PAN). Thus, the intention was to reduce the compliance burden on the small transporters. However, the current language of sub-section (6) of section 194C of the Act does not convey the desired intention and as a result all transporters, irrespective of their size, are claiming exemption from TDS under the existing provisions of sub-section (6) of section 194C of the Act on furnishing of PAN.
As there is no rationale for exempting payment to all transporters, irrespective of their size, from the purview of TDS, it is proposed to amend the provisions of section 194C of the Act to expressly provide that the relaxation under sub-section (6 ) of section 194C of the Act from non-deduction of tax shall only be applicable to the payment in the nature of transport charges (whether paid by a person engaged in the business of transport or otherwise) made to an contractor who is engaged in the business of transport i.e. plying, hiring or leasing goods carriage who fulfils the following two conditions:
(b) such contractor furnishes a declaration with respect to (a) above along with his PAN
The amended sub section (6) would be as under:
(6) No deduction shall be made from any sum credited or paid or likely to be credited or paid during the previous year to the account of a contractor during the course of business of plying, hiring or leasing goods carriages, where such contractor owns ten or less goods carriages at any time during the previous year and furnishes a declaration to that effect along with his Permanent Account Number, to the person paying or crediting such sum.
This amendment will take effect from 1st June, 2015.
Declaration Form Format
No format of declaration/undertaking has however been prescribed. In view of this, the declaration ca take any form so long as it fulfills the requirement of the section 194C (6). However, an illustrative declaration could be on the following lines which may not be notarized. Please bear in mind that the declaration is required for each previous financial year.
Declaration under section 194C (6) for
Non-deduction of Tax at Source
To
..................... (Name, address of the
payer)
Declaration
I, Mr. XYZ, Proprietor/Partner/Director of M/s
Sample Transport Agency, New Road, Delhi (hereinafter "The
Contractor") do hereby make the following declaration as required by sub
section (6) of Section 194C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for receiving payment from
the payer without deduction of tax at source.
1. That I/We am/are authorized to make this
declaration in the capacity as Proprietor/Partner/Director.
2. That the contractor is engaged by the payer for
playing, hiring or leasing of goods carriage for its business.
3. That the contractor does not own more than ten
goods carriage as on date.
4. That if the number of goods carriage owned by
the contractor exceeds ten at any time during the Previous year 2015-16
(01-06-2015 to 31-03-2016), the Contractor shall forthwith, in writing intimate
the payer of this fact
5. That the Income Tax Permanent Account Number
(PAN) of the contractor is AAAXX1234X. A Photocopy of the same is furnished to
the payer along with this declaration.
Place:
Dated:
Declarant
Verification
I the above named declarant do hereby verify
that the contents of paragraphs one to five above are true to my own knowledge
and belief and no part of it is false and nothing material has been concealed
in it.
Place:
Dated: Declarant
Source-http://abcaus.in/
MS Word Draft format of above declaration form under section 194C(6) are as under
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9EbT202gPKzSzF2cHM3TzcxZ3M/view?usp=sharing
MS Word Draft format of above declaration form under section 194C(6) are as under
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9EbT202gPKzSzF2cHM3TzcxZ3M/view?usp=sharing