The office of the Principal Commissioner of Tax (PCIT), which had been shifted from Hubballi to Panaji in Goa during the reorganisation of the functional jurisdiction carried out by Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), will now remain in Hubballi, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi has said.
In a press release issued from New Delhi, Mr. Joshi has said that following the decision to shift the PCIT office from Hubballi to Panaji, he met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman on Thursday and apprised her of the need to retain the PCIT office in Hubballi itself. Consequently, the Finance Minister had agreed to retain the PCIT office in Hubballi, he said.
It may be recalled that various trade bodies, including the Karnatak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Hubballi, and political parties, including Aam Aadmi Party, had urged the Union government to recall the decision and had also urged the Union Minister from the region [Mr. Joshi] to make efforts to annul the order.
e-assessment centre
Mr. Joshi has in the release said that the Finance Minister had also agreed to set up a new regional e-assessment centre under the Faceless Assessment Scheme, which is part of the New Tax Policy of the Union government, in Hubballi. Mr. Joshi has thanked Ms. Nirmala Sitaraman for taking a decision in favour of Hubballi.
Welcomed
In a release, district president of AAP Santosh Naragund has said that the AAP had submitted a memorandum in this regard to the Finance Minister on August 19 and had explained in detail the problems that the people of the region would face because of the decision on shifting the office. “It is a welcome development that the Union government has now realised the injustice the decision would have caused to North Karnataka and has changed its decision,” he has said.
Meanwhile, various organisations have thanked both Ms. Nirmala Sitaraman and Mr. Pralhad Joshi for withdrawing the decision to shift the PCIT office.