it is kept or it has been kept

[telemehdi]

this was one of the tests i had to solve in my exam. I answered it correctly because there was a "since" in the sentence and I chose "has been kept". I would like to know the exact differences between these two tenses. To me they are interchangeable mostly. Where are we obligated to use only one of them? For example: It is kept in the closet or It has been kept in the closet.
I don't stress on any specific verb. I just would like to know subtle differences between these two tenses.

 

[bhaisahab]

this was one of the tests i had to solve in my exam. I answered it correctly because there was a "since" in the sentence and I chose "has been kept". I would like to know the exact differences between these two tenses. To me they are interchangeable mostly. Where are we obligated to use only one of them? For example: It is kept in the closet or It has been kept in the closet.
I don't stress on any specific verb. I just would like to know subtle differences between these two tenses.

"It is kept in the closet" = That's the place it is usually kept, it's there now.
"It has been kept in the closet" = At some time in its existence it was kept in the closet, it may or may not be kept there now. If you added "since 1999", for example, it would mean that you started keeping it in the closet in 1999 and it is still kept there now.