"ITR 6" and ITR V - the I.T. Department should remove ambiguities in forms to be filled in and final printed forms.

[C.A. DEV KUMAR KOTHARI]

Verification part in Form ITR 6 for companies:

While filling form ITR 6 for companies in verification and acknowledgment section (para 11) we find that there is requirement of writing name and father's name of signatory. There is a box for PAN. In that portion it is not mentioned that this box for PAN is for the PAN of signatory and not the company / assessee for whom return is being filed. The wordings 'holding permanent account number is not mentioned. Therefore, while filling form for a company assessee naturally PAN of company is thought and filled-in, particularly by any person who is filling form ITR 6 for the first time and who has not taken a print of ITR V to find that therein words like 'holding PAN… are mentioned for signatory.

"ITR V" form of acknowledgment of return:

After uploading the ITR 6, when ITR V is printed, it is found that the words "holding permanent account number' is mentioned for the signatory. This means that in the verification portion, where box for PAN was provided in the form ITR 6, the PAN of signatory was to be mentioned. However, due to lack of suitable words in form to be filled in, caused lack of clarity in form ITR 6, so the PAN of company was mentioned in the box instead of the director whose name is mentioned as signatory.

Hope from I.T. Department:

 Let us hope that the department will not make an issue on this count, and shall not initiate penalty proceedings for mentioning wrong PAN (of assessee) in the place of verification portion as it appears in printed ITR V. Particularly when PAN of director who signed the return is also mentioned in details of directors in the ITR 6.

Advise to file revised return:

To play safe author has advised clients to file revised returns and mention correct PAN of the signatory while filling the Form ITR 6 so that on the acknowledgment portion in ITR V correct PAN of signatory appears . Therefore, all ITR V should be examined and in case similar mistake has taken place, the same can be rectified by filing revised return.

Difficulty in digital signature:

In case of N-code digital signature, there is mention of a serial number after name of the signatory. Due to this the digital signature was not accepted at the time of registration due to mismatch of name of Key person as per records on website. For example suppose name of MD is MD but in digital signature it is shown as MD 1234.

1234 is a serial number placed by n-code, the signature of MD. But this was not accepted for registration.

As per information gathered from N-code, N code has put their serial number after the name of signatory and it so spear in saved signatures also. Therefore there will be a mismatch of name of director, if the website compare name with such serial number and due to that reason return cannot  be signed digitally. The I.T. department should resolve such problems with digital signature providers.

Suggestion:

In form no. ITR 6 at the verification and acknowledgment section in box for PAN, it should suitably be mentioned "PAN of signatory" or the wordings I …  S/o …. Holding PAN… .. can be mentioned to make it clear that here PAN of signatory is required. This will be in conformity with what is printed, after doing data entry while filling the form ITR 6.

Other ITR forms and other aspects of various forms should also be checked by the I.T. Department so as to ensure that there is clarity in words used in form for filling and that the information as appears in the printed form is fully synchronized and due to confusions, there is no difference in form to be filled and ultimately printed form.

Care required by return filers:

Besides ambiguities and lack of comprehensiveness in ITR forms, there are situations that many times information to be filled in form while doing data entry are to be clubbed/ classified in some unnatural manner. For example, in case of details of investment there are no space for many popular items of investments. Therefore, working of such information should be kept ready so that in future there is no problem in explaining information given in ITR. The return should be printed and information provided / as printed finally therein should be checked. In case there is some mistake or misinformation, the same should be corrected by filing a revised return.