Direct Tax Review To Exclude Past Investments, Notices, Searches—NDTV Profit Exclusive

This includes investment in tax-free bonds maturing in 2027-28, they said.

While tax provisions in the areas of exemptions and deductions, including special economic zones, power units, telecommunications, capital gains, and so on which are time expired could be declared ‘redundant,’ the officials privy to the development told NDTV Profit.

This will also help transition the tax system further towards an exemption-free regime.

The review is being conducted in a way to eliminate all redundant sections applicable before assessment year 2012-13, but with three broad exceptions, of which the first is related to income in the current or subsequent years arising from past investments. The other two pertain to litigation, notices, and search, officials privy to the development told NDTV Profit.

Explaining further, an official said, any provision that may have an impact on the determination of total income in pending assessment proceedings will not be done away with. It will be assumed that proceedings related to assessment year 2012-13 onwards may still be pending in regular course.

The other provisions that will be spared from the review will be those with impact on initiation of proceedings in current year related to assessment year 2014-15 or later.

In its review report, revenue department is expected to clarify on redundant sections, an official quoted above told NDTV Profit.

Last month, the CBDT's internal committee headed by senior tax officer VK Gupta invited public inputs for review of the six-decade-old I-T Act with regard to simplification of language, litigation reduction, compliance reduction, and obsolete provisions.

The panel received 6,500 responses from stakeholders in past one month. The panel has formed 22 sub-committees which has been tasked to send a report by end of this month on the review of each sections as part of review exercise.