The Income Tax Settlement Commission Bar Association (ITSCBA) is up in arms against some proposed amendments in Finance Bill 2007, saying that if these amendments are passed, it would curtail powers of the commission to a great extent.

In a letter to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and finance minister P Chidambaram, the association has said that Clauses 53(a), 57 and 59 of the Bill would lower the status of Income Tax Settlement Commission into an ordinary assessing office.

At present, the commission provides immunity under various legislation to defaulters who confess to having evaded taxes during the past years and seek a one-time settlement to get immunity under the Income Tax Act, IPC and other

central Acts.

Once these amendments are passed, taxpayers who want to avoid trouble and prolonged litigation would not be able to approach ITSC for relief.

ITSCBA president K P Garg told The Indian Express: “These amendments would not serve any purpose as they would make the commission a parking lot for retiring bureaucrats from the I-T department. Once these amendments become law, the commission would not have any fresh work after May 31 this year.”

According to the fiscal reform committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, “Clause 53 proposes to restrict the scope of application to be made to the Settlement Commission. Accordingly, an applicant will not be eligible to file an application in case a search has been carried out.”

Its suggestion: “Search cases may be allowed to file applications for settlement in case there is complexity.” However, the committee remained silent on amendments under clause 57 and 59.

... contd.