Speaking to CNBC-TV18’s Shereen Bhan, Advisor to Finance Minister Parthasarathi Shome said that as committee chairman he does have certain amount of disappointment from the point of view of the committee’s final recommendations being put to action.
Also Read: Tax Tussle: Bom HC dispatches Voda appeal back to Tribunal
Shome is also the chairman of Tax Administration Reform Commission, which had recommended to do away with the retrospective tax.
In a CII event last year he had said the government should not use retrospective amendment of tax laws to raise revenues.
Speaking on the falling out of the Vodafone conciliation talks, he said it was not a matter of will or lack of will but it was a mater of the process.
Telecom major Vodafone is likely to move the high court in either Bombay or Delhi to obtain an interim stay if the Indian tax department issues a notice in relation with the six-year-old tax case.
Below is the interview of Parthasarathi Shome, Advsior to Finance Minister with Shereen Bhan on CNBC-TV18.
Shereen: Let me talk to you about the unfinished agenda as far as this government is concerned. One of the big bugbears is the retrospective tax amendment. We now learn that the conciliation talks with Vodafone are going to go nowhere. They are seeking approval of Parliament to actually nullify the entire conciliation process. Are you disappointed that despite the fact that your committee recommended doing away with the retrospective tax amendment there was no further movement on that front?
A: Yes as committee chairman I do confess that there is a certain amount of disappointment from the point of view of the committee’s final recommendations being put to action somehow. On the other hand being in government, time and again, I do find that for everything to come to fruition does take time and on complicated matters, unless they are solved quickly, they have a tendency to get more complicated.
Shereen: What did Vodafone and the retrospective tax amendment in? Was it the lack of conviction or will or was it the fact that it just became too complicated as you pointed out.
A: The point is I myself and finance minister followed that principle too. As independent chairman I did not get into at all the individual case. However, it was not a matter of will or lack of will but it was a mater of the process. As you know conciliation started and what were the components of conciliation you know from media that the party or the assessee concerned had certain views. So, I think it is just a process that unfurled that is complicated.
Watch video for full interview
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