If there's a WLL, there's a taxman round the bend

[sunil_jok 2]

here is something i found on the web. now u have to file tax returns even if u r a college student, a vegitable vendor, or even if u r a begger, coz reliance is supposed to be used by even beggers. or so the sms goes.

here is the link from where i got the news

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/519957.cms

If there's a WLL, there's a taxman round the bend

ARNAV PANDYA / ETIG

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2004 12:03:54 AM ]

A large number of people, whose paths have never crossed with that of the income-tax sleuths until now, might suddenly find themselves in the tax net. The reason, the move to a unified licensing regime could bring many WLL subscribers under the ‘one by six’ scheme, which requires filing of returns.

The introduction of unified licensing means that the subscribers to ‘limited mobility’ services — being offered by the likes of Reliance Infocomm and Tata Teleservices — would become full-fledged mobile subscribers, which would bring them under the purview of the ‘one by six’ scheme. Till now limited mobility services are legally equivalent to basic services, which is not covered under the ‘one by six’ scheme.

The income tax department’s ‘one by six’ scheme requires any individual falling into any of the six specified categories to file a tax return, even if the tax to be paid is nil. These categories included owning a car, a club membership or making a foreign trip, as well as owning a mobile phone. The telephone has had connections with the taxman for quite some time. Earlier, a person who was having a landline connection in his name was also liable to file tax returns. This led to hardships for many who had a landline phone in the house in the name of a family member who scarcely had any taxable income. This was especially true for senior citizens and retired people, who suddenly had a lot of paperwork thrust on them.

This led to many people surrendering their landlines just to escape the tax net. Subsequently the condition was withdrawn and clauses were changed, stipulating owners of mobile phones to file returns.

Though, this meant even a college student with a mobile having to file a tax return.

However, there was some relief in the fact that those with a WLL connection would not be falling under this head, and hence would not be required to file a return in the process. But, with leading telecom service providers like Reliance Infocomm and Tata Teleservices embracing the unified licensing regime, telecom analysts say that the WLL service, that they were offering, has now actually become a mobile service.

A Reliance Infocomm spokesperson said it was a ‘unified access service provider’, and license conditions stipulate that those who do not want to be part of the unified licensing scheme can continue on WLL (i.e. without availing the roaming facility). However, tax experts say that mere possession of a mobile phone makes it compulsory to file a tax return. Lack of roaming does not provide an exemption.

What exactly the service is called might be a technical point open for debate, but for the end user it can mean a difference between falling inside or outside the tax net. The differentiation is important as millions of customers could be impacted. For example, Reliance, at the end of January ’04, had 6.4m subscribers, with 5.7m being CDMA users.

Several chartered accountants and tax experts say that prima facie the conversion will bring the erstwhile ‘limited mobility’ customer under the ‘one by six’ scheme. Significantly, this would affect many low-income individuals who went for the WLL mobile as the entry levels were low. These include the likes of vegetable vendors who have so far not been part of the mobile revolution.

[Arun 795]

Holy Cow !

[Chirag 5]

Its jus filing the returns... i mean, just paper work... got to keep urself clean of it... nothing to worry abt, unless u've got some black money goin in these mobile bills!