“The committee will give recommendations to the Central Board of Direct Taxes and Central Board of Excise & Customs for issuance of appropriate clarifications by way of circulars and instructions on tax issues,” the finance ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. The committee, announced in Budget 2014-15 by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, will have former Settlement Commission member Sidhartha Pradhan, and former Director General (Audit) Customs and Central Excise Gautam Ray, as members. Its chairman, Lahiri, has also represented India at the Asian Development Bank. The terms of reference (ToR) of the committee include setting its own procedures for regulating its work. It might consult experts and tax professionals from outside and also invite officers from the revenue department and other government departments for interaction.
The committee, which will have a one-year term, will give half-yearly reports to the finance minister.
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The committee will be assisted by two nodal officers not below joint secretary/commissioner rank — one each from income tax and Customs & central excise. The choice of nodal officers will be recommended by CBDT and CBEC, and the appointment will be made after the revenue secretary’s approval.
Former finance minister, P Chidambaram, had also set up a high-level forum under his advisor, Parthasarathi Shome, to address some of the taxation-related concerns of industry.
The forum had identified 29 issues in direct taxes and 47 in indirect taxes that merited removal of obstacles, and clarifications or amendment of procedures. Issues pertaining to service tax refunds, Cenvat credit, excise duty levy on sale of goods at loss were addressed by the finance ministry on the basis of the forum’s recommendations.