I-T dept receives 6,500 suggestions on income tax act review

The income tax department has received 6,500 suggestions from stakeholders over the past month on review of the Income Tax Act. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday chaired a meeting on the Budget announcement of a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

The meeting was attended by Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra, Secretary, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman Ravi Agarwal, and senior CBDT officials.

In a post on X, the finance ministry said that Malhotra informed the Finance Minister that 22 specialised sub-committees have been established to review the various aspects of the Income Tax Act.

These committees have actively engaged in numerous meetings 'both in person and via VC' with domain experts to collaboratively explore and recommend improvements to the Act.

"During the meeting, the Revenue Secretary also apprised FM Smt. @nsitharaman that 6,500 valuable suggestions have been received through the portal since it was opened on 6 October 2024, reflecting active public participation towards further simplification of the IT Act," the ministry added.

Last month, the CBDT's internal committee 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.

Pursuant to the Budget announcement by Sitharaman for a comprehensive review of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the CBDT had set up an internal committee to oversee the review and make the Act concise, clear, and easy to understand, which will reduce disputes, litigation, and provide greater tax certainty to taxpayers.

Public inputs and suggestions were invited in four categories - simplification of language, litigation reduction, compliance reduction, and redundant/obsolete provisions.