Retro tax amendment: CBDT to notify new committee this week

CBDT is expected to notify later this week the constitution and terms of reference of a high- level committee which will scrutinise all Income Tax cases emerging out of the retrospective amendment of the Act.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced the new mechanism in his Budget speech on July 10.

"The committee which will have an oversight of all retrospective amendment cases will be notified by this week. We are hopeful that in the next 7-8 days, the members of the committee and its working protocols will be notified," a senior Finance Ministry official said.

The committee, the official said, would be headed by the Central Board of Direct Taxes Chairperson and would comprise a member of the board, a Joint Secretary rank officer of the Finance Ministry, the Director General of I-T (International Taxation) and few others.

The committee would function as a permanent panel until all cases under the retrospective tax demand domain are exhausted, the official said.

In his Budget speech, Jaitley had said that the new government will not ordinarily bring about any change retrospectively which creates a fresh liability.

"The sovereign right of the government to undertake retrospective legislation is unquestionable. However, this power has to be exercised through extreme caution and judiciousness keeping in mind the impact of each such measure on the economy and the overall investment climate.

"This government will not ordinarily bring any change retrospectively which creates a fresh liability," Jaitley said while presenting the Budget for 2014-15.