The government is keen on reducing tax-related litigation and the proposals in the Union Budget are a step towards that, S.K. Misra, Director-General of Income Tax (Investigation), Karnataka & Goa, has said.
He was speaking at a seminar on the budget, organised by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and Deloitte here on Monday.
In reply to members’ queries about retrospective amendments to tax laws, Mr. Misra said the Finance Minister had reassured industry that retrospective taxation under a 2012 amendment would be applied only in exceptional cases, not in normal course of business.
Fresh cases would first be referred to a new high-level committee before taking action.
However, he cautioned that no one should assume that there would be no litigations, as taxpayers and Revenue officials would still have different views on an issue.
The Union Budget, he said, aimed for a clear and stable regime that could limit taxation disputes with corporate bodies.
The larger role given to the Authority for Advance Rulings was a move to bring clarity to assessees’ tax obligations. There were threshold limits for filing appeals in higher forums against taxpayers.
Krupa Venkatesh, chamber member and senior director at Deloitte, suggested a joint committee that would resolve differences on customs and transfer pricing issues.
J. Crasta, co-chairman, ASSOCHAM, Southern Regional Council, remarked that the new government had unfolded a policy agenda for the long term, while balancing controlling the deficit and boosting growth.
Surjit Bhujabal, Additional Director-General, Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence, and Sandeep Prakash, Commissioner of Customs, Bangalore, spoke.
