Budget to usher in stable tax regime: Official

Bangalore, July 14 (IANS) The 2014-15 union budget brought to the fore the central government's intention to usher in a stable tax regime and help reduce litigation in taxation, an official said here Monday.

"A number of proposals in the budget such as the increasing role of the Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) will allow assesses to have clarity about their tax obligations and facilitate a clear and stable tax regime in future," S.K. Mishra, director general (investigation) in the income tax department for Karnataka and Goa, said at a seminar on the budget here.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the budget in the Lok Sabha July 10.

Allaying fears over incidents of retrospective amendments to tax laws, Mishra said the minister's announcements that retrospective taxation would only be resorted to in exceptional cases was a pointer to the government's intent to not introduce such taxes in normal course of business.

"At the same time, it is wrong to assume that litigations would be avoided, as there would be instances of difference of opinion between tax payers and revenue officials," Mishra told captains of industry and southern members of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham), which organised the event.

The central government has, however, set threshold limits for filing appeals in higher forums against tax payers.

Assocham southern regional council co-chairman J. Crasta said the government unfolded its policy agenda for a long term and was an attempt to strike a balance between need for controlling fiscal deficit and fuelling economic growth.

The association's southern regional council member Krupa Venkatesh called for the setting up of a joint committee on customs and transfer pricing issues to resolve differences between the enforcing authority and stakeholders.