BANGALORE, July 10: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has spelt out the details of the four economic criteria for filing returns under Section 139 of the Income-Tax Act for the assessement year 1997-98. The section was amended in the budget by making it compulsory for all persons satisfying any two of the four criteria to file returns.

On the first condition specifying the occupation of immovable property by a person, the board has notified the floor area for all the 12 cities. For Mumbai, the floor space for residential area is 600 square feet, while for commercial area it has been restricted to 100 square feet.

That means, any person in Mumbai who possessed (in the period from April 1, 1996, to March 31, 1997) residential area of 600 square feet or commercial area of 100 square feet, and who satisfies one of the other three conditions, will now compulsorily have to file an income-tax return.

According to CBDT, the occupation of the property will include occupation by way of ownership, tenancy or otherwise (eg: as a paying guest). The board has also clarified that the residential area does not include huts and kutcha dwellings.

For Delhi, the specifications are identical as those for Mumbai. For Chennai and Calcutta, the residential and commercial areas have been restricted to 1,000 and 125 square feet.

The floor area for Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad and Ludhiana is 800 and 125 square feet for residential and office areas. The specifications for Jaipur, Hyderabad, Kanpur and Chandigarh are 1,100 and 125 square feet for residential and commercial areas, respectively.

As per section 139 (1), the second condition includes ownership of a motor vehicle. "The board has not clarified on the type of motor vehicle," Nalini M K Menon, chief commissioner of income-tax, Karnataka & Goa, said. The board has just stated that the person should be a owner or lessee of a motor vehicle, she added.

As regards the third criterion, the CBDT has clarified that the subscriber of a telephone includes cellular phones. The fourth criterion under the section is that a person should have incurred expenditure on travel to a foreign country for himself or for any other person.

Any person satisfying any two of the above conditions will be required to file form No 2C read with Rule 12(1)(d) of the Income-Tax Rules, 1962. The CBDT has also listed the urban agglomerations for the 12 cities. For Mumbai, the urban agglomeration will include areas comprised in `Greater Bombay' within the meaning of the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act.

For Delhi, the areas will include the state of Delhi, areas comprised in Gurgaon Municipal Corporation, areas comprised in Fariabad District, areas charted out in Ghaziabad municipality (as notified under Uttar Pradesh Municipality Act), areas regulated by the Ghaziabad Development Authority and areas notified by the Uttar Pradesh government in the notification dated July 11, 1989. The urban areas coming under Chennai will include areas comprised in the Madras Metropolitan Planning Area within the meaning of the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act.

For Calcutta and Bangalore, the urban agglomeration will include areas specified under the respective regional developmental authorities. For Pune, the areas will comprise the `City of Pune' within the meaning of the Bombay Provisional Municipal Corporation Act.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.