New Delhi, Oct 28: Centre has formed a committee with a view to simplify the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
The panel headed by former Delhi High Court Judge Justice R.V. Easwar comprises former law secretary V.K. Bhasin, Chartered Accountant Vinod Jain, Consultant Rajiv Memani, senior advocate Ravi Gupta, Chartered Accountant Mukesh Patel, Consultant Ajay Bahl, Investment Adviser Pradip P. Shah, IRS Arvind Modi and IRS Vinay Kumar Singh as members.
The Terms of Reference (ToR) of the committee is to study and identify the provisions/phrases in the Act which are leading to litigation due to different interpretations, study and identify the provisions which are impacting the ease of doing business, study and identify the areas and provisions of the Act for simplification in the light of the existing jurisprudence and suggest alternatives and modifications to the existing provisions and areas so identified to bring about predictability and certainty in tax laws without substantial impact on the tax base and revenue collection.
The Committee will set its own procedures for regulating its work. It can also work in Sub-Groups and the draft prepared by the Sub-Groups can then be approved by the whole Committee. The Committee will put its draft recommendations in the public domain. After stakeholder consultations, the Committee will formalise its recommendations. The Committee can give its recommendations in batches. The First Batch containing as many recommendations as possible will be submitted by January 31, 2016.
The term of the panel is for a period of one year from the date of its constitution.
