Ex-CEA to head FinMin panel to hear industry's tax issues

The Finance Ministry Wednesday set up a high level committee to interact with trade and industry on tax related issues on regular basis and ascertain areas where clarity in tax laws is required.

The high level committee will be headed by former Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) in the Ministry of Finance Ashok Lahiri. Other two members of the committee are SettlementCommission's (Income Tax and Wealth Tax) retired member Sidhartha Pradhan and Customs and Central Excise retired DG (Audit) Gautam Ray, the ministry said in a statement.

The HLC will give recommendations to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) for issuance of appropriate clarifications by way of circulars, instructions on tax issues, it added.

Further, the CBDT and CBEC will issue the required clarifications, circulars, instructions within a period of two months from the date of receipt of recommendations of the HLC.

The ministry has been receiving representations from trade bodies on tax-related issues and disputes that affect the industry as a whole or impact a large sections of the industry.

In the recent past, the government has been involved in tax disputes with some big multinational companies such as Vodafone, Nokia and Shell.

The committee will be assisted by two Nodal Officers not below the rank of Joint Secretary or Commissioner, one each from Income Tax and Customs & Central Excise, the statement said.

The term of the committee shall be for one year from the date of its constitution, subject to further extensions, as may be considered appropriate by the Department of Revenue and shall submit half-yearly reports to the Finance Minister, it added.

In his Budget 2014-15 speech, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced the setting-up of a High Level Committee to interact with trade and industry and ascertain areas where clarity on tax laws is required.