TIPPING POINT

What are certificates of appreciation issued by Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)?

To encourage assessees to pay their taxes on time, the government has started issuing certificates of appreciation. This is an acknowledgement of taxpayers for their contribution towards nation building.

Who gets the certificate of appreciation?

It is issued to those who have paid their taxes in full and have no outstanding tax liability, and in cases where the return was e-filed within the prescribed time. CBDT will be sending out these to individual taxpayers by e-mail in various categories on the basis of taxes paid by them for the Assessment Year 2016-17. Those who paid a tax of ~1 crore or more fall under the platinum category. Those contributing ~50 lakh to ~1 crore are in gold category. Silver and Bronze categories are for those who pay between ~10 lakh and ~50 lakh and ~1 lakh and ~ 10 lakh, respectively. About 843,000 taxpayers will be issued these certificates.