Latest news with #CentralBoardofDirectTaxes
India Gazette
a day ago
- Business
- India Gazette
Ravi Agrawal re-appointed CBDT Chairman
New Delhi [India], June 28 (ANI): The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the re-appointment of Ravi Agrawal, as Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on a contract basis for one year, effective from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, or until further orders, according to an official order. Last year, Agrawal, a 1988-batch IRS officer, was appointed as the new chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the administrative body for the Income Tax Department. With the reappointment, the CBDT is expected to move forward with various pending initiatives aimed at streamlining tax administration and enhancing taxpayer services nationwide. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet in April approved the appointment of four senior Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers as Members of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). The CBDT is the apex policy making body for the Income-tax department. The CBDT is headed by a chairman and can have six members who are in the rank of special secretary. The Board plays a crucial role in formulating policies for tax collection, combating tax evasion, and implementing various direct tax reforms. The Central Board of Direct Taxes is a statutory authority constituted under the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1963. The officers of the Board in their ex-officio capacity also function as a Division of the Ministry dealing with matters relating to levy and collection of direct taxes. The Central Board of Revenue as the apex body of the Department, was entrusted with the task of administration of taxes. It came into existence as a result of the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1924. Initially, the Board was in charge of both direct and indirect taxes. Subsequently, the Board was split up into two, namely the Central Board of Direct Taxes and Central Board of Excise and Customs with effect from January 1, 1964. This bifurcation was brought about by constitution of two Boards u/s 3 of the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1963. (ANI)
NDTV
a day ago
- Business
- NDTV
Government Extends Top Tax Authority CBDT Chairman's Tenure By A Year
New Delhi: The government has extended the tenure of Ravi Agrawal as the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) by another year. The CBDT is the apex policymaking body of the Income Tax Department, and its chairman and members are senior Indian Revenue Service officers. "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved re-appointment of Ravi Agrawal, IRS as Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes on contract basis, for a period of one year with effect from July 1, 2025 till June 30, 2026 or until further orders, whichever is earlier," the government order stated. The re-appointment will be on the usual terms and conditions applicable to re-employed Central government officers, in relaxation of the Recruitment Rules. Agarwal, a 1988 batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer from the income tax cadre, had succeeded Nitin Gupta, 1986 batch IRS officer, in June 2024 as Chairman of the CBDT. He was serving as a member of the CBDT (Administration) from July 2023 before his appointment as chairman. The CBDT is headed by a chairman and can have six members who are in the rank of special secretary. Meanwhile, CBDT has asked all the principal chief commissioners of Income Tax to exercise effective supervision over their assessing officers and make sure that questions sent by them to a taxpayer are justified, and that irrelevant queries are completely avoided. The apex body has directed Income Tax Department officials to ensure due application of mind while issuing notices for scrutiny and assessment of a taxpayer's return, emphasising that all queries should be relevant and specific. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier this week asked income-tax officials to ensure that tax compliance processes are made simpler, more transparent and taxpayer-friendly. The Finance Minister also directed all principal chief commissioners of income tax to prioritise and accelerate the disposal of disputed tax demands that are currently pending before the faceless appellate authorities, the finance ministry said in a statement. About 577,000 appeals were pending at the start of the current fiscal year. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is targeting to address more than 225,000 appeals in FY 2025-26 involving over Rs 10 lakh crore of disputed demand. The Finance Minister highlighted that prompt and time-bound disposal of taxpayer grievances is essential for ensuring responsive governance.
Mint
a day ago
- Business
- Mint
Ravi Agrawal re-appointed as CBDT Chairman
The government has re-appointed Ravi Agrawal as the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) for another year starting from 1 July, an official order said on Saturday. The decision was made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), according to a statement from the department of personnel and training. The appointment is on contract basis from 1 July to 30 June 2026 or until further orders, whichever is earlier, the statement said. ACC also cleared the appointment of 1989 batch Indian Police Service officer Parag Jain as secretary, research and analysis wing (R&AW) under cabinet secretariat for two years, showed a separate order. Ravi Agarwal has been leading the tax authority's efforts to transform tax administration to a trust-based one, which relies on voluntary compliance. In the Union budget for 2025-26, the government announced personal income tax relief to middle-income earners, which is estimated to be worth ₹ 1 trillion in terms of revenue forgone. The move could spur consumption, boost the economy and in turn boost revenue receipts as well. Agarwal is also closely involved in drafting a new Income Tax Bill to replace the existing law. The government believes tax reform is key to realising the country's development goals. The new Income Tax Bill is expected to be clear and direct in text and in terms of both chapters and words, only close to half of the present law. A Parliamentary panel is currently looking into it. The new Bill is expected to be simple to understand for taxpayers and the tax administration, leading to tax certainty and reduced litigation. Under Agarwal's watch, the CBDT also rolled out a Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme in 2024 to resolve income tax disputes pending in appeal. The scheme has received a great response, with nearly 33,000 taxpayers having availed of this scheme to settle their disputes, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in her budget speech in February.
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Business Standard
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
'Trust restored': Officials to ask 'relevant' questions during tax scrutiny
The CBDT has asked its officers to ask 'relevant' and 'specific' questions while scrutinising tax assessments: a decision that experts say will reduce arbitrariness and harassment. Ravi Agrawal, chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes, recently asked Principal Chief Commissioners of Income Tax (PCCITs) to supervise faceless assessing officers and ensure they avoid sending unjustified or vague queries to taxpayers, PTI reported. The directive applies to all scrutiny cases selected for review in FY26. Suresh Surana, a chartered accountant, said tax notices often seek information on personal expenditure, all bank statements, or explanation for travel or business operations even when these weren't relevant to a case. 'Such queries increased the compliance burden unnecessarily and caused stress to taxpayers,' he said. 'Even salaried taxpayers were asked to justify income already reported in Form 16 and reconciled with TDS data. Business owners were served blanket queries like 'justify business expenses' without context,' said Niyati Shah, chartered accountant and vertical head of personal tax at 1 Finance. Ashish Mehta, partner at Khaitan & Co, noted that even audited companies have often been asked to submit 'exhaustive details and past-year bank statements.' How does the CBDT directive help taxpayers? 'This is a step toward restoring trust,' said Shah. 'It forces assessing officers to apply their minds before raising a query and prevents blanket, template-based questioning.' Surana emphasized that it's especially helpful for senior citizens who rely on pensions or interest income. 'Focused scrutiny will spare them from excessive documentation or irrelevant questions,' he said. SR Patnaik, partner (Head – Taxation) at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, said the move will 'provide clarity by narrowing the scope of enquiry to specific transactions, making it easier for taxpayers to respond effectively.' Experts say taxpayer must do these things about queries they find irrelevant: -Respond politely, referencing relevant ITR sections or AIS data -Escalate the issue under the faceless assessment structure or through a grievance under e-Nivaran -Cite the CBDT directive to highlight non-compliance As a last resort, approach the Principal Commissioner or even consider a legal writ, said Patnaik 'It helps to get a tax professional involved if the queries remain repetitive or unjustified,' said Shah How will the faceless assessment system improve? The CBDT has placed the onus of quality control on assessment unit (AU) heads. 'This makes AU heads directly responsible for the relevance and clarity of queries,' said Shah. 'Over time, this should reduce 'fishing expeditions' by junior officers.' Mehta agreed, adding that the new responsibility 'should lead to fewer standardised notices and more case-specific scrutiny.' Patnaik, however, cautioned that implementation remains key: 'The faceless system is still evolving. Without a way to directly engage with officers, grievances can remain unaddressed unless structural reforms accompany these directives.' 'The faceless assessment system was meant to ensure transparency, but due to poor implementation, it has often led to genuine claims being rejected and even incorrect notices being issued,' said Rashi Khanna, associate partner at DMD Advocates. 'The department must ensure accountability of assessment units, incentivise reasoned orders, and create a feedback mechanism to improve trust and efficiency.' With enhanced oversight and accountability, the new framework aims to bring more fairness and professionalism to tax scrutiny, a welcome change for compliant taxpayers.
Mint
3 days ago
- Business
- Mint
CBDT orders processing of late returns, refunds filed upto March 2024
New Delhi: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has ordered the processing of late tax returns and their refunds in cases where taxpayers have filed a request for condoning delays and reported their income by the end of March 2024. CBDT said in an order that returns of income filed under section 119 of the Income Tax Act under which delays are condoned, could not be processed within the statutory deadline due to a technical reason and hence refunds were not granted. The tax authority said grievances were filed regarding non-receipt of refund due to non-processing of these returns in some cases. The tax policy making body said it has now decided to relax the timeframe for processing these returns. Intimation of processing these returns will be sent to the assessees by the end of March 2026. Experts said that in certain cases, due to genuine hardship, taxpayers are unable to file their income tax return within the specified due dates. As a result, such taxpayers are either unable to claim refund or are denied the opportunity to carry forward the losses incurred, explained Deepesh Chheda, Partner, Dhruva Advisors, a tax and regulatory services firm. Recognizing this, CBDT in 2015 allowed taxpayers facing genuine hardships to apply for condonation of delay in filing the return and where condonation is granted, the taxpayer could file a tax return and claim refunds or carry forward losses, subject to riders. Such relief is restricted to cases involving genuine hardship and is not available generally to all taxpayers, explained Chheda. However, due to technical issues, several such returns filed pursuant to the condonation were not processed within the statutory timeline, and no intimation was issued. Consequently, refunds were not granted to such taxpayers, prompting representations from affected taxpayers, added Chheda. 'The Board has now relaxed the time limit for processing of valid returns and directed that such returns where the time limit for issuing intimation has expired, shall now be processed. The intimation in respect of such returns shall be issued to the concerned taxpayers on or before 31 March 2026, thereby enabling genuine taxpayers to receive their refunds,' added Chheda. The move comes after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier in the week reviewed the performance of the Income Tax department including the pace of refunds and grievance resolution. Sitharaman also then directed officials to monitor disposal of grievances on its online platforms, identify recurring issues and strengthen redressal mechanisms accordingly, Mint reported on 23 June. CBDT's latest circular is a welcome relief for taxpayers whose delayed returns were accepted under condonation provisions but remained unprocessed due to time limitations, said Amit Maheshwari, Tax Partner at AKM Global, a tax and consulting firm. 'This move brings much needed closure and certainty, especially for those who were previously left in a state of uncertainty despite filing valid returns,' said Maheshwari.
