VittSphere ONE Calculators Blog CA Prabhakar Kumar · FCA · ICAI 560762
Case lawCirculars2014 › Circular 1/2014, dated 13-1-2014
CBDT circular 13 January 2014

Circular 1/2014, dated 13-1-2014

Chapter Xvii-b of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Collection and Recovery of TAX - Deduction at Source - Clarification Regarding TDS under Chapter Xvii-b on Service TAX Component Comprised of Payments Made to Residents Circular No. 1/2014 [F.no.275/59/2012-it(b)], Dated 13-1-2014

What this is

Circular 1/2014, dated 13-1-2014 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 13 January 2014. Its subject is Chapter Xvii-b of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Collection and Recovery of TAX - Deduction at Source - Clarification Regarding TDS under Chapter Xvii-b on Service TAX Component Comprised of Payments Made to Residents Circular No. 1/2014 [F.no.275/59/2012-it(b)], Dated 13-1-2014.

This is a clarification. The Board is stating how it reads a provision. That reading binds the department; it does not bind a court, and where the section says otherwise the section wins.

What it does

Extends to the whole of Chapter XVII-B the rule that was earlier stated only for rent. Where the agreement or contract between payer and payee shows the service tax component in the amount payable to a resident separately, tax is to be deducted at source on the amount paid or payable without including that service tax component. The Board acts under section 119 and issues this after examining the matter afresh.

Why it was issued

The Board's circular of 28 April 2008 had said this for rent under section 194-I, and representations asked whether the same principle extended to other provisions. The Board also had before it the Rajasthan High Court's judgment of 1 July 2013 in CIT (TDS) Jaipur v. Rajasthan Urban Infrastructure, holding that no deduction is required on the service tax component under section 194J where the agreement provides for it to be paid separately.

Who it reaches

The provisions it speaks to

Left, the provision of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as the instrument itself names it. Right, the section of the Income-tax Act, 2025 that the department’s own concordance maps it to — which is where the same ground is now covered.
Under the 1961 ActNow
s.119s.239
s.194s.2, s.393, s.397, s.400, s.402

The instrument, as the Board published it

The department publishes this one only as a PDF, so the words below were read out of that PDF by machine. That reading can carry its own mistakes — a misread number, a broken line. Check the signed document before you rely on a figure in it.

CHAPTER XVII-B OF THE INCOME-TAX ACT, 1961 - COLLECTION AND RECOVERY OF TAX - DEDUCTION AT SOURCE - CLARIFICATION REGARDING TDS UNDER CHAPTER XVII-B ON SERVICE TAX COMPONENT COMPRISED OF PAYMENTS MADE TO RESIDENTS CIRCULAR NO. 1/2014 [F.NO.275/59/2012-IT(B)], DATED 13-1-2014

The Board had issued a Circular No.4/2008 dated 28-04-2008 wherein it was clarified that tax is to be deducted at source under section 194-I of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (hereafter referred to as 'the Act'), on the amount of rent paid/payable without including the service tax component. Representations/letters has been received seeking clarification whether such principle can be extended to other provisions of the Act also.

2. Attention of CBDT has also been drawn to the judgement of the Hon'ble Rajasthan High Court dated 1-7-2013, in the case of CIT (TDS) Jaipur v. Rajasthan Urban Infrastructure (Income-tax Appeal No.235, 222, 238 and 239/2011), holding that if as per the terms of the agreement between the payer and the payee, the amount of service tax is to be paid separately and was not included in the fees for professional services or technical services, no TDS is required to be made on the service tax component u/s 194J of the Act.

3. The matter has been examined afresh. In exercise of the powers conferred under section 119 of the Act, the Board has decided that wherever in terms of the agreement/contract between the payer and the payee, the service tax component comprised in the amount payable to a resident is indicated separately, tax shall be deducted at source under Chapter XVII-B of the Act on the amount paid/payable without including such service tax component.

4. This circular may be brought to the notice of all officer for compliance.

What to watch

Where you meet it

In a short-deduction order under section 201(1) or in a Centralised Processing Centre default intimation where the department computed deduction on the gross invoice including service tax.

An example

Ours, not the Board’s: a worked case built from the rule the instrument sets, to show how it falls out.

A professional bills fees of Rs. 10,00,000 with service tax shown separately, and the contract provides for it to be paid separately. Deduction under section 194J is on Rs. 10,00,000 alone, and a short-deduction demand computed on the tax-inclusive total does not stand.

What it names

It mentions. Circular No. 1/2014, Circular No. 4/2008

On the same provision

Other instruments in this library that name the same provision of the 1961 Act. They are not necessarily still operative, and a later one may have replaced an earlier one without saying so.

← Circular No. 2/2014  ·  Circular 10/DV/2013 →

A circular binds the department, not you and not a court. The Board issues a circular to its own officers. An assessee may hold the department to a circular that helps him; the department cannot hold an assessee to one that hurts him, and the Tribunal and the courts decide the law for themselves.

Source: the Income Tax Department’s own published text — its page for this instrument.