Pranab Mukherjee promises major changes in revised direct tax codes

New Delhi, June 9 (ANI): Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said that all stakeholder concerns will be addressed in the revised direct tax code, which will be released shortly.

Speaking at the Annual Conference of Chief Commissioners and Directors General of Income Tax here, Mukherjee said: "The new code will usher in major changes in procedures and practices of Direct Tax.

He also announced that in order to upgrade the skills of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers, an advanced mid-career training programme for them would be started during the current year.

"This will equip officers to face challenges dealing with complex international transactions and fight menace of tax avoidance schemes," he added.

He announced that government will set up income tax overseas units in eight more countries, including the US and Britain, to help exchange tax-related information. He asked IT officers to monitor high growth areas in the economy to track any kind of evasion and urged to devise strategies to achieve the tax collection targets.

"Department may also develop special strategies to monitor TDS compliance at the District level, state level and at Central level," he added.

Mukherjee said that the economy was expected to grow at 8.5 percent this fiscal. e asked the officers of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to come out with a comprehensive proposal to address the issue of unwanted litigation with taxpayers and also to realise locked up revenue in appeals.

For the current year, he asked senior officers of the income tax department to exceed the target of direct tax collection at Rs. 4,30,000 crore in the Budget estimates.

Mukherjee also expressed concern over rising litigation with the taxpayers and the quantum of revenue locked in appeals. He said taxpayers should be encouraged to Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP), which has emerged as a preferred alternate dispute resolution mechanism. (ANI)