Union Government sets up two committees to ensure consistency in tax policies

February 4, 2016

The Union Government has constituted two new committees namely Tax Policy Research Unit (TPRU) and Tax Policy Council (TPC) to streamline the taxation policy and administration.
These committees have been constituted based on the recommendation of the Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC) on taxation reform.

Tax Policy Research Unit (TPRU)

The TPRU will be headed by Revenue Secretary. It will carry out studies on various topics of fiscal and tax policies.
It will assist the TPC in taking appropriate policy decisions and shall prepare tax proposal and analysis of legislative intent.
It will also take decisions on expected increase or decrease in tax collection and economic impact.
It will comprise of officers from CBEC, CBDT as well as economists, researchers, statisticians and legal experts.

Tax Policy Council (TPC)

The TPC will help the government in identifying key policy decisions for taxation. It shall aim to have a consistent and coherent approach to the issue of tax policy.
It will look at all the research findings coming from TPRU and suggest broad policy measures for taxation.
The council will be headed by Union Finance Minister. It shall have 9 members – Minister of State for Finance, Commerce Minister, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman, Chief Economic Advisor and Finance Secretary.
It would also have secretaries from the department of Revenue, DEA, DIPP and Ministry of Commerce.

Backgroud

Presently, taxation policy and administration is handled in the CBDT and the CBEC.
But there are also two independent boards Tax Research Unit (TRU) and Tax Policy and Legislation (TPL) wings which are also sending proposals to the Union Finance Minister.
TARC in its First Report had identified handling of tax policy and related legislation as one of the areas in need of structural modifications.
In order to bring consistency, multidisciplinary inputs and coherence in taxation policy making, it had recommended establishment of Tax Council supported by a common Tax Policy and Analysis (TPA) unit to cater to needs of both direct and indirect taxes.

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