The finance ministry on Thursday reiterated that the tax department would not take a rash decision in the Vodafone case and would act in accordance with the law.
In her first media interaction after taking charge last month, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairperson Poonam Kishore Saxena said the amount of tax involved is not small and, therefore, much due diligence has to be done by the assessing officer.
“There are so many legal opinions to be taken and considered.… The assessing officer and the supervisory officers will take a decision in accordance with the law, taking into consideration, among other things, the decision of the Supreme Court, the amendments made in the I-T Act, 1961, Section 119 of the Finance Act, 2012, and the opinion of the attorney general,” Saxena told reporters.
She said a time frame for a decision on Vodafone could not be given. “If the assessing officer needs some time to study the entire matter, it is for him. We are not going to rush him.” Earlier this week, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had said tax officers won’t act rashly in Vodafone case. He said a decision on sending a tax notice to the company would be taken after getting the Parthasarathi Shome panel’s report on retrospective amendment to the Income Tax Act.
On the issue of tax refunds, Saxena said CBDT had reduced the time for tax refunds to three months and would take steps to release arrears as fast as possible. “Arrears are going to be released. From September 3, we have started demand correction fortnight. Adjustment would be done in a short while,” she added.
In the last five years, the number of refunds disbursed by the income tax department stood at Rs 35.20 crore, out of which Rs 20.61 crore were done through banks. In the current financial year, as on August 2012, the number of refunds disbursed stood at Rs 33.51 lakh, out of which Rs 33.15 lakh of refunds were executed through banks.
Asked about investigation into cases of black money against individuals figuring in the HSBC, Geneva and other similar lists, Saxena said the cases were being investigated on the basis of information furnished by foreign countries and prosecution proceedings would be initiated wherever required.
Responding to allegations by yoga guru Ramdev that the government was using the tax department to harass him, she said Ramdev or any other person with such complaints was free to approach the grievance redressal body.
“The department has a very well laid out grievance redressal mechanism. If the assessing officer is in any manner perceived to be harassing any assessee, may be Baba Ramdev, then the next authority in the administration is always available for you to lodge a grievance,” she explained.
