Experts welcome govt's move to bury retro tax, but with riders

They, however, say are not sure if the lack of interest and costs payable by govt will satisfy all litigants

In a significant move, the union government has moved to amend the Income Tax Act to effectively nullify the retrospective tax demands in the law, that led to disputes with Cairn Energy and Vodafone.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 in the Lok Sabha which seeks to withdraw tax demands made on indirect transfer of Indian assets prior to May 28, 2012.

Experts say the government should have brought the Bill way earlier, but nonetheless welcomed it.

"The amendment for retrospective taxation yielded no revenues, only brought about disrepute to the government," Dinesh Kanabar of Dhruva Advisors told