Panel pulls up finance ministry for locking Rs 9.85 trillion on tax cases
New Delhi: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on finance has pulled up the finance ministry for locking a whopping Rs 9.85 lakh crore (Rs 9.85 trillion) in appeals only for direct taxes. Out of this, over Rs 6.71 lakh crore is locked in appeals pending at Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) level “making the situation unimaginable”, said the panel.
There are around 2.83 lakh appeals pending before the CIT(A) through out the country. Another Rs 1.40 lakh crore is locked in appeals at Income-Tax Appellate Tribunal level involving 88,000 cases. About Rs 1.66 lakh crore is locked in appeals in high courts involving 41,000 petitions and Rs 7,500 crore in locked in dispute in Supreme Court.
The committee recommended a massive and prompt steps be taken to stop this trend. It asked the government to enact law for time-bound, early disposal of cases. In its reply, the ministry had said that it has issued a number of circulars in contentious issues to bring clarity in the tax regime and eliminate or reduce tax disputes.
As far as indirect taxes are concerned, CBEC has decided that the threshold limit below which appeals are not to be filed by the department in Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) and high courts has been raised to Rs 10 lakh and Rs 15 lakh respectively, said the ministry. “Special leave petitions received from the field formations for filing appeals in Supreme Court against High Court orders are examined critically at the higher level in the board and opinion of the law officer (AG) also taken so that SLPs are filed only in the desiring cases,” said ministry.
Also cases are withdraw in all cases in the High Court and CESTAT where there is a precedent Supreme Court decision. The finance ministry said that zonal chief commissioner have been directed to identify cases fit for withdrawal amongst the cases pending in appeal before CESTAT and High Court.
Only 1.7% Indians paid tax in FY15:
Just over 2 crore Indians, or 1.7 per cent of the total population, paid income tax in the assessment year (AY) 2015-16, according to data released by the I-T department. The number of income-tax return filers increased to 4.07 crore in assessment year 2015-16 (FY 2014-2015) from 3.65 crore in the previous year but only 2.06 crore actually paid tax as the others claimed income below taxable limits.
In FY14, 1.91 crore, out of 3.65 crore who filed returns, had paid income tax. But the total income tax paid by individuals declined to Rs 1.88 lakh crore in FY15 from Rs 1.91 lakh crore in FY14.
