Pitching for simpler tax laws, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that the government is studying the recommendation given by the Parthasarathi Shome committee for simplifying tax administration. Jaitley said that the government is at an advanced stage of deliberating on the suggestions of the Shome Committee which had recommended reforms in both the direct and indirect tax wings of the government to make them more taxpayer friendly.
The Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC), headed by Parthasarathi Shome submitted its report to Jaitley in June 2014. The Shome committee in its report pitched for a separate budget allocation to ensure time bound tax refund and a passbook scheme for TDS (Tax Deduction at Source). The report also proposed a complete revamp of the dispute resolution mechanism, widening the use of the permanent account number (PAN) and spending 10% of the tax department’s budget to improve taxpayer services.
Further the committee suggested for abolition of the post of revenue secretary, setting up of a tax council to develop a common tax policy and legislation for both direct and indirect taxes and merit-based promotions of officials in the tax administration. It also suggested that for large taxpayers, services should be provided by central board of excise and customs and central board of direct taxes under one umbrella. It had suggested that retrospective amendments to tax laws should be avoided as a principle and Income Tax Return forms should also include wealth tax details.
Besides, Jaitley said a committee has also been set up under Justice R V Easwar to simplify the Income Tax Act. Jaitley asserted that some of the recommendations of both the committees are likely to find a place in the Union budget to be presented on 29 February.