The government has received over 6,500 suggestions for revamping more than six-decades-old Income Tax Act, Finance Ministry said on Monday.
This was reported in a meeting on comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act 1961, chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday. In her Budget speech on July 23, she had proposed that the I-T law review will be completed in six months. Considering that the six-month timeline ends in January 2025, it is widely expected that the amended I-T Act could be brought in the Budget session of Parliament. The meeting on Monday was called to take stock of progress.
According to a statement by the Finance Ministry, Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra informed the Minister that 22 specialised sub-committees have been established to review the various aspects of the I-T Act. These committees have actively engaged in numerous meetings — both in person and via VC — with domain experts to collaboratively explore and recommend improvements to the Act. During the meeting, he also apprised the Minister that 6,500 valuable suggestions have been received through the portal since it was opened on October 6, reflecting “active public participation towards further simplification of the IT Act.”
Last month, the CBDT invited public inputs for review of the six-decade old I-T Act with regard to simplification of language, litigation reduction, compliance reduction, and obsolete provisions. The board had set up an internal committee to oversee the review and make the Act concise, clear, and easy to understand, which will reduce disputes, litigation, and provide greater tax certainty to taxpayers.
It also said that suggestions should specify the relevant provision of the Income-tax Act, 1961 or Income-tax Rules, 1962 (mentioning the specific section, sub-section, clause, rule, sub-rule, or form number), as the case may be, to which the suggestion relates under the aforementioned four categories.
