CBDT delays relief to taxpayers facing double taxation in India - Review of its recent Circular

The Pandemic induced strict lockdowns and border closures have given rise to anxiety and confusion amongst taxpayers regarding their tax residency position in India. The Indian Government recognizes the restrictions that the Pandemic has imposed on individuals’ movement to and from India. As a result, many people have been forced to spend more time in India than originally anticipated – thereby creating expensive changes in their residency and income tax status. Continue Reading CBDT delays relief to taxpayers facing double taxation in India: Review of its recent Circular

Your mother should formally request the society for documents
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The Private Client team at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas shares their comments and opinions shared in an article in the  following Q&A which was published by the Mint Newspaper on 03rd March, 2021 and the online edition of the same can be found here.

We are three brothers who inherited a freehold property in 2003 through a duly registered will. We got the property mutated in our joint names with the municipal authority for payment of annual property tax, jointly. We decided to rebuild it into three dwelling units. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) sanctioned these plans, and we have obtained the completion certificate. We entered into written family agreements for the partition of our shares by draw of lots. However, some disputes arose before its enforcement, which were settled through the mediation and reconciliation centre (MRC) of the Delhi High Court. This memorandum of understanding (MoU) is the agreed settled ownership. We got our shares registered individually with the MCD and have been paying property tax.

To get our rights of individual titles, do we have to get it registered with the sub-registrar? If so, is stamp duty payable?

Where would the ownership records be available after our deaths if the property is not registered with the sub-registrar, but the registration has been done with the municipality?

—Subhash Kumar

Continue Reading Your mother should formally request the society for documents

Receiving charitable donations? What you should think about

Introduction

Charitable organisations, irrespective of the scale of their activities, seek and accept donations in various forms. Predictably, payment and receipt of donations, susceptible as they may be to misuse, are subject to regulation in India, and there are multiple legal complexities that need to be navigated through in connection with these.

In this article, we identify some questions that donee organisations must consider when accepting charitable donations in order to suitably address various legal issues and formalities applicable. Continue Reading Receiving charitable donations? What you should think about.

If your aunt wants to bequeath her house to your mother, she will have to execute a will

The Private Client team at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas shares their comments and opinions shared in an article in the  following Q&A which was published by the Mint Newspaper on 18th February, 2021 and the online edition of the same can be found here.

My 70-year-old maternal aunt is unmarried and has a house in which she, my mother, younger brother and I have been staying together since 2002. The aunt is my maternal grandfather’s sister’s daughter. My mother has an elder brother too. My aunt inherited the house from her mother. What will be the status of the house when she passes away? Will my mother still have the right to stay in it? My mother and aunt have an “either survivor bank account” and locker, in which they keep their money and valuables. What will happen to that account in case of my aunt’s death?

—Name withheld on request

Continue Reading If your aunt wants to bequeath her house to your mother, she will have to execute a will

TO TRUST OR NOT TRUST - MUMBAI ITAT AFFIRMS EXCLUSION OF CORPUS FUND OF OFFSHORE TRUST FROM INDIAN WEALTH TAX

Background:

Creation of private trusts have been considered as a popular method by rich families for succession planning. Trusts are a legal arrangement whereby assets are placed into the care of an individual who manages them for the benefit of someone else. Trust can be further classified into specific or discretionary based on the scheme of distribution of the trust fund. However, in recent times, offshore trust structures are suspected to be more commonly used as a means of money laundering than lawful tax planning. Consequently, the Income-tax Department has been unveiling various private offshore trusts and imposing tax liability on the beneficiary owners. This has led to an increase in reassessment proceedings and dissatisfaction among the residents for being subjected to wrongful tax liability. Recently, the Mumbai Income-tax Appellate Tribunal (“ITAT”) provided relief to Mr. Yashovardhan Birla and held that offshore trusts are considered to be acceptable form of tax planning and a beneficiary of an offshore discretionary trust cannot be taxed on the entire corpus fund merely because he has been provided with the power to appoint/ reappoint trustee. The case is discussed in detail below: Continue Reading To Trust Or Not Trust: Mumbai ITAT affirms exclusion of corpus fund of Offshore Trust From Indian Wealth Tax

Rules for Will under Army order depend on when it was made
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The Private Client team at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas shares their comments and opinions shared in an article in the  following Q&A which was published by the Mint Newspaper on 10th February, 2021 and the online edition of the same can be found here.

I am a serving Army officer (Hindu by religion). I have made my Will under Army Order 4/91; it’s an unregistered Will. I experienced a lot of problems inheriting a property from my mother, as hers was a non-registered Will, hence I want to make a registered Will. The opening lines of any Will state that “I revoke all the past Wills”. If I write that in my registered Will, it may not be as per my department’s format. The existing Will lacks detail. What should I do?

—Name withheld on request

Continue Reading Rules for Will under Army order depend on when it was made

It isn’t mandatory to execute gift deed for transferring shares
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The Private Client team at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas shares their comments and opinions shared in an article in the  following Q&A which was published by the Mint Newspaper on 27th January, 2021 and the online edition of the same can be found here.

I wish to gift shares worth a few lakhs of rupees to my parent, who is retired and has no income, so that the dividend can be used as income. Will I need to make a gift deed and register it? Will my parent be taxed? Can my parent gift or will back the shares to me at a later date?

– S. Arora

Continue Reading It isn’t mandatory to execute gift deed for transferring shares

Seek a probate if will lists an immovable property in Mumbai

The Private Client team at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas shares their comments and opinions shared in an article in the  following Q&A which was published by the Mint Newspaper on 13th January, 2021 and the online edition of the same can be found here.

My late mother, by way of a will, transferred her residential flat in Mumbai to my late father. The managing committee (MC) wanted my father to probate the will. The deputy registrar (during my late father’s lifetime) gave written orders that since my mother’s will is unchallenged, no probate was required. However, since the MC insisted, we approached the high court (after my dad passed away) where it was mentioned that an undisputed will needs no probate. My late father made a nomination mentioning me, my sister, my wife and two sons. My sister and I, the legal heirs, entered into a family agreement, wherein she released her right to the flat in my favour. Now, the MC is again asking for a probate of the will. What should I do next?

—S. Padmanabhan

Continue Reading Seek a probate if will lists an immovable property in Mumbai

Will executed by a Muslim does not mandatorily need a probate
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The Private Client team at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas shares their comments and opinions shared in an article in the  following Q&A which was published by the Mint Newspaper on 02nd December, 2020 and the online edition of the same can be found here.

My maternal grandfather had inherited some property from his father. My mother passed away in 1997 and my grandfather in 2018 without any partition or will. My mother’s brother is denying that I have any share in the property. Do I have a legal share in it as the son of a predeceased daughter, as per the recent clarifications on the Hindu Succession Act?

—Name withheld on request

Continue Reading Will executed by a Muslim does not mandatorily need a probate

Supreme Court clarifies the law on Maintenance

Introduction:

In our blog post titled “Maintenance and Women[1]”, we had inter alia discussed various statutory provisions under which women in India can claim maintenance. This blog post is in furtherance to the said post.

Recognising the dire need to have uniformity, consistency, procedural fairness and time efficiency in disposal of maintenance applications, the Supreme Court has recently, in the matter of Rajnesh v. Neha & Anr.[2] inter alia, framed guidelines on certain aspects pertaining to payment of maintenance in matrimonial disputes (“Guidelines”). Further, the Court has also set out a comprehensive format in which the Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities (“Affidavit of Disclosure”) is to be filed by parties to matrimonial disputes of such nature. Continue Reading Supreme Court Clarifies the Law on Maintenance