Ministry of Finance

Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey takes over as Revenue Secretary

Dated: 30 NOV 2018

Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey (IAS: MH 1984) took over as the Union Revenue Secretary upon superannuation of Dr Hasmukh Adhia here today. Outgoing Finance Secretary & Revenue Secretary, Dr Hasmukh Adhia welcomed Dr Pandey in his office. A Maharashtra cadre officer, Dr. Pandey will continue to head the Unique Identification authority of India (UIDAI) as its CEO and will also hold his position as the Chairman of GSTN.

An Indian Administrative Service officer with over 34 years of experience in State and Central Governments, he had a remarkable stint of more than 8 years in UIDAI where he played a key role in establishing and steering Aadhaar across the country and drafting the historic Aadhaar legislation for providing statutory basis to Aadhaar. He also successfully explained Aadhaar and its benefits and the underlying technology to the 5-judge Constitution bench in the Supreme Court through his two-day long power point presentation in the open court room which helped the Government in successfully defending the Aadhaar case against 37 petitions. He was also instrumental in scaling up Aadhaar in delivery of government subsidies and benefits which led to savings of more than Rs 90,000 Crore during the last three years by eliminating ghosts and duplicates and ensuring that the benefits reach the real and deserving beneficiaries. It is under his steering that Aadhaar has earned worldwide acclaim.

Prior to joining UIDAI in 2010, he played an important role in reforming power distribution system as Managing Director of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company where he brought down transmission and distribution losses remarkably and helped the state in tiding over massive power shortage. Also, during his tenure as Principal Secretary, Information Technology in Maharashtra, he contributed significantly in driving many key e-Governance projects. Early in his career, he had also headed Enforcement Division of Maharashtra Sales Tax department.

An Electrical Engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur, he joined the University of Minnesota in 1998 to obtain his MS and PhD in Computer Science and was later awarded Distinguished Leadership Award for Internationals by the University of Minnesota for his outstanding leadership accomplishments in his professional career.

Later speaking to the media, Dr. Pandey said that his priorities among others would be to help government improve Tax–GDP ratio, enhance tax compliance through integration of technology, stabilize the implementation of GST, bring transparency and simplification of laws and procedures for better tax administration and ease of business. He would welcome any suggestions from public regarding direct and indirect tax reforms as this would help to get feedback and pave the way for providing better incentives and services to the tax payers.

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DSM/RM

(Release ID: 1554326)

 

Click here to read and download ITAT order copy reported in [TS-8548-ITAT-2018(Cochin)-O]

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue

Central Board of Direct Taxes

New Delhi,

26th November, 2018

PRESS RELEASE

Protocol amending India - China DTAA

The Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the People’s  Republic  of  China  have  amended  the  Double  Taxation  Avoidance  Agreement  (DTAA) for the avoidance of double taxation and for the prevention of fiscal evasion  with respect to taxes on income, by signing a Protocol on 26/11/2018.

Besides  other  changes,  the  Protocol  updates  the  existing  provisions  for exchange  of  information  to  the  latest  international  standards.  Further,  the  Protocol  incorporates changes required to implement treaty related minimum standards under the  Action  reports  of  Base  Erosion  &  Profit  shifting  (BEPS)  Project,  in  which  India had  participated  on  an  equal  footing.  Besides  minimum  standards,  the  Protocol brings in changes as per BEPS Action reports as agreed upon by the two sides.

(Surabhi Ahluwalia)

Commissioner of Income Tax

(Media & Technical Policy)

Official Spokesperson, CBDT

F No 370149/230/2017

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue

Central Board of Direct Taxes

(TPL Division)

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New Delhi, November 26, 2018

OFFICE ORDER

In order to review the existing Income-tax Act, 1961 and to draft a new direct tax law in consonance with economic needs of the country, a Task Force was constituted by the Government of India vide Office Order of even number dated November 22, 2017 under the Convenorship of the then Member (Legislation), CBDT, who has since superannuated from Government Service.

2. In view of the above, in partial modification of the earlier order, the Task Force is reconstituted with the following Members:

(i)     Shri Akhilesh Ranjan, Member (Legislation), CBDT: Convenor

(ii)     Shri Girish Ahuja, practicing Chartered Accountant and non-official Director State Bank of India;

(iii)    Shri Rajiv Memani, Chairman & Regional Managing Partner of E&Y;

(iv)    Shri Mukesh Patel, Practicing Tax Advocate, Ahmedabad;

(v)    Ms Mansi Kedia, Consultant, ICRIER, New Delhi;

(vi)    Shri G C Srivastava, Retd IRS (1971 Batch) and Advocate.

3. The Convenor is authorised to co-opt any person as a Member of the Task Force, if considered necessary. The other terms and conditions of the Office Order dated November 22, 2017 constituting the Task Force remain the same.

4. The Task Force shall submit its report to the Government by February 28, 2019.

5. This issues with approval of the Finance Minister.

(Niraj Kumar)

Undersecretary (TPL)-I

Tel: 011-2309 5468

 

Click here to read and download HC judgment copy reported in [TS-6993-HC-2018(Madras)-O]