Sub-section (3) of Section 40A of the Income-tax Act, before amendment by the Act, specified that any expenditure in respect of which payment or aggregate of payments made to a person in a day, otherwise than by an account payee cheque drawn on a bank or account payee bank draft, exceeds twenty thousand rupees, shall not be allowed as a deduction. Further, sub-section (3A) of section 40A of the Income-tax Act also provided for deeming a payment as profits and gains of business of profession if the expenditure is incurred in a particular year but the payment is made in any subsequent year of a sum exceeding twenty thousand rupees otherwise than by an account payee cheque drawn on a bank or account payee bank draft.
19.2 In order to disincentivise cash transactions, section 40A of the Income-tax Act has been amended to provide for the following:
(i) To reduce the threshold of cash payment to a person from twenty thousand rupees to ten thousand rupees in a single day; i.e any payment in cash above ten thousand rupees to a person in a day, shall not be allowed as deduction in computation of Income from "Profits and gains of business or profession";
(ii) Deeming a payment as profits and gains of business of profession if the expenditure is incurred in a particular year but the cash payment is made in any subsequent year of a sum exceeding ten thousand rupees to a person in a single day; and
(iii) To expand the specified mode of payment under respective sub-section of section 40A of the Income-tax Act from an account payee cheque drawn on a bank or account payee bank draft to by an account payee cheque drawn on a bank or account payee bank draft or use of electronic clearing system through a bank account.
19.3 Applicability: This amendment takes effect from 1st April, 2018 and will, accordingly, apply from assessment year 2018-19 and subsequent assessment years.
Disallowance of depreciation under section 32 and capital expenditure under section 35AD on cash payment.
20.1 Sub-section (3) of section 40A of the Income-tax Act provides that revenue expenditure incurred in cash exceeding certain monetary threshold is not allowable except in such circumstances as specified under Rule 6DD of the Income-tax Rules, 1962. However, there was no provision to disallow the capital expenditure incurred in cash. Further, section 35AD of the Income-tax Act provides inter alia for investment-linked deduction on the amount capital expenditure incurred, wholly or exclusively for the purposes of business, during the previous year for a specified
business except capital expenditure incurred for acquisition of any land or goodwill or financial instrument.
20.2 In order to discourage cash transactions even for capital expenditure, section 43 of the Income-tax Act has been amended to provide that where an assessee incurs any expenditure for acquisition of any asset in respect which a payment or aggregate of payments made to a person in a day, otherwise than by an account payee cheque drawn on a bank or account payee bank draft or use of electronic clearing system through a bank account, exceeds ten thousand rupees, such expenditure shall be
ignored for the purposes of determination of actual cost of such asset.
20.3 Section 35AD of the Income-tax Act has also been amended to provide that any expenditure in respect of which payment or aggregate of payments made to a person in a day, otherwise than by an account payee cheque drawn on a bank or an account payee bank draft or use of electronic clearing system through a bank account, exceeds ten thousand rupees, no deduction shall be allowed in respect of such expenditure.
20.4 Applicability: These amendments take effect from 1st April, 2018 and will, accordingly, apply from assessment year 2018-19 and subsequent assessment years.
