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Click here for all the information and analysis you need for tax-saving this financial year.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com .)

Every festive season , e-shopping websites dole out attractive offers and cash backs to woo customers. However, this year, Mr. Sharma is a little hesitant in buying anything from these websites. Last year, he bought a smart phone, laptop, refrigerator, AC, and TV for his new house from one of the e-commerce websites. He compared the prices quoted by a near-by shop with prices on online sites. Finally he chose a particular website to buy these goods as it offered good cash back. But his sound sleep was interrupted when he got a notice from the Income-tax Department for alleged under-reporting of income. Through the notice, the Assessing Officer initiated the re-assessment under Section 147 as Mr. Sharma didn't declare the cash back as part of income chargeable to tax in the income-tax return (ITR) form.Various online shopping websites, credit card companies, and e-wallet companies offer lucrative cash back schemes. These cash backs are awarded either by way of 'Instant Discounts ' or by way of 'Cash Backs'. Do you know that these cash backs may invite taxes in certain situations? Income and taxes are the flipsides of the same coin. Any monetary benefit received by a person by way of gifts or cash backs from a non-relative might be subject to income-tax under the head 'Income from Other Sources' or 'Profits and Gains from Business or Profession', as the case may be.Before we evaluate the taxability of such benefit schemes, it would be imperative to first take cognizance of the provision of Section 56(2)(x) of the Income-tax Act. This provision provides for levy of tax if any sum of money is received without consideration. This tax, popularly known as 'gift tax', is levied only if the aggregate value of such sum exceeds Rs 50,000 during the financial year. If the benefits are not given in the form of cashbacks but in form of accessories (i.e., free earphones, power banks, etc.), this provision shall not be applicable. However, market value of freebies can be taxable if goods are purchased for the purpose of business or profession as all benefits, arising in the course of business or profession, are taxable under section 28(iv) whether they are convertible into money or not.In other words, the provision of gift tax can be invoked only if any monetary benefit is received by way of credit in the bank account, e-wallets or credit card. In case of gifts received in kind, no amount is credited to the user's account, hence the provision of gift tax shall not be applicable.In the discussion below, we have evaluated various discount schemes to determine their taxability.In instant discount schemes, if the customer opts to pay for the order using the prescribed debit card or credit card, an extra discount is offered by the website which is instantly subtracted from the listed price and customer pays the net discounted amount only. If the customer is buying the goods for his business or profession, the net price shall be allowable as business expense or if it is a capital asset (i.e., laptop, ACs, TVs, etc.) then the depreciation will be allowed on the net amount only.However, if goods are purchased for personal consumption and not for any business or profession, then nothing shall be chargeable to tax as no monetary benefits are received by way of credit to the account of the customer.In 'Cashback' schemes, if customer chooses to pay with the credit card or debit card of partner bank, the bank credits the predetermined cashback in card user's account at the end of a pre-determined 'cooling' period. If an individual receives cashback in relation to purchase of any goods, not being a capital asset, for the purpose of business or profession carried on by him, then the buyer can either claim the deduction only for the net expenditure after reducing the amount of cashback from total expenditure or to add the cash back to 'other business receipts' and declare in income tax return as part of gross income.If cash back is received in respect of purchase of a capital asset to be used for the purpose of business or profession carried on by him, then he can claim depreciation on the net amount after reducing the total value by the amount of cashback or he can claim depreciation on gross amount and pay tax on the cashbacks as other business receipts.If cashback is received for the goods purchased for personal consumption, then the same shall be taxable under the head "Income from other sources" only if the total amount of cash back exceeds Rs 50,000 during a financial year. Further, where the amount of cash back is less than Rs 50,000 but in addition to this cash back the buyer has also received some monetary gifts from non-relatives or friends and the aggregate of such gift and the cashback exceeds Rs 50,000, then he shall be liable to pay taxes on such aggregate value.For example, Mr. A bought a camera for Rs 50,000, on which he received a cashback of Rs 10,000. Additionally, he received a gift of Rs 45,000 from one of his friends. Even though the amount of cash back is less than Rs 50,000, yet, the aggregate of cashback and gift exceeds Rs 50,000. The entire receipt of Rs 55,000 shall be taxable in the hands of the Mr. A under the head "Income from other sources".Frequent flyer miles are the rewards which can be redeemed while booking tickets for a flight. So these are just like instant discounts. As in the case of instant discounts, no taxability will arise on frequent flyer miles whether they are linked with the business or profession or not. These rewards can also be availed by way of instant reduction from the billed amount, in which case no taxability shall arise. In both the cases if these rewards are linked with the business or profession carried on by the assessee, he can claim only net expenditure as business expense.(The authors are CA Naveen Wadhwa, DGM, Taxmann.com and CA Ritu Gupta, Assistant Manager, Taxmann.com)