New Delhi: The NDA government’s efforts to modernise the Income Tax Act 1961 is set to get prolonged with the six-member task force set up to advise the government on the subject missing the deadline to give its report.
The government is looking at the possibility of reconstituting the task force, set up last November, a person familiar with the development said on the condition of anonymity.
The original deadline of 22 May was once extended to 22 August.
“The task force has not sought more time,” said the person.
One member of the task force Mint reached out to declined to comment, while another member did not answer calls.
Arbind Modi, the convener of the task force, and member, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), retired last month.
The government wanted a new tax code to suit the economic realities of the country, and hence incorporated global best practices. The proposed code was also expected to take forward the ongoing withdrawal of corporate tax exemptions and reduction in corporate tax rate to 25% for all businesses, besides giving further relief to individual income taxpayers in the lower tax brackets.
With a final set of recommendations on the new code still to materialise, it remains doubtful if the NDA will be able to bring out a draft new code before the 2019 polls.