Task force on Direct Tax Code submits report to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi: A government-appointed task force headed by CBDT member Akhilesh Ranjan on Monday submitted its report on the new Direct Tax Code, which seeks to replace the existing Income Tax Act. The details of the report, however, could not be known immediately. The Finance Ministry in a tweet said, “Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. @nsitharaman received the report submitted by Shri Akhilesh Ranjan, Convenor of the Task force constituted by the Government to draft New Direct Tax Law, in New Delhi today.” The task force was supposed to submit its report by 31 May, but the then finance minister Arun Jaitley gave two months extension to complete the exercise. [caption id=“attachment_6941571” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. PTI[/caption] Subsequently, the government allowed the task force to submit its report by 16 August, 2019, in light of the fact that the new members of the task force requested for more time to provide further inputs. The finance ministry in November last year appointed Akhilesh Ranjan, Member (Legislation), CBDT, as convenor of the task force after the retirement of Arbind Modi. Other members of the task force include Girish Ahuja (chartered accountant), Rajiv Memani (Chairman and Regional Managing Partner of EY), Mukesh Patel (Practicing Tax Advocate), Mansi Kedia (Consultant, ICRIER) and G C Srivastava (retired IRS and Advocate). Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the annual conference of tax officers in September 2017, had observed that the Income-Tax Act, 1961, was drafted more than 50 years ago and it needs to be redrafted. The task force was assigned to draft direct tax laws in line with the norms prevalent in other countries, incorporating international best practices, and keeping in mind the economic needs of the country. The panel was initially supposed to submit its report to the government, within six months, by 22 May, 2018, which was further extended till 22 August. Following Arbind Modi’s retirement on 30 September, 2018, Akhilesh Ranjan-led panel was tasked to submit report by 28 February, 2019. It was then extended till 31 May.