National Tax Tribunal is back!
Bill introduced in Lok Sabha
THE NTT ordinance as is well known lapsed with the previous government, but the new Government is equally committed to the concept and introduced the Bill in Lok Sabha on Monday for creation of the NTT.
STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS:
The object of the bill as stated by the Law Minister Mr HR Bharadwaj is :-
Under the direct and indirect tax enactments, an appeal lies to the High Court on a substantial question of law. Due to pendency of a large number of cases in the High Courts, huge revenue is blocked in such litigations. This is adversely affecting the national economy. Hence, urgent measures are required to be taken to speed up taxation matters pending before the High Courts. To achieve the aforesaid objective, it is proposed to establish a Tax Tribunal to be known as the National Tax Tribunal to hear cases on substantial question of law from the decisions of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal and the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal. This Tribunal is being set up under article 323B of the Constitution and will act through its Benches. A person who has been a Judge of the Supreme Court or the Chief Justice of a High Court shall be the Chairperson of the National Tax Tribunal. The number of Benches to hear the cases under the direct tax laws and indirect tax laws shall be decided by the Central Government from time to time. With the establishment of the National Tax Tribunal all matters and proceedings pending in appeals and references under the direct tax laws and indirect tax laws before the High Courts shall stand transferred to it.
Incidentally this is the same text of objects and reasons as presented by Mr Jaitley more than a year ago. Not a comma differs. At least the NDA cannot find fault with the Bill now!
More than a year passed by, but no escalation in costs!
As per the Financial memorandum presented along with the Bill,
The total expenditure per Bench and its staff requirement will be Rs. 31,51,000/- per annum. Accordingly, the total expenditure for 25 Benches would be around Rs.7.88 crores per annum. The total expenditure on infrastructural requirements on the non-recurring expenditure (for initial setting up) would be Rs. 15,00,000/- and Rs. 10 lakhs per annum is estimated as recurring expenditure, per Bench. Accordingly, total expenditure on the infrastructural requirements including recurring and non-recurring would be approximately Rs. 6.80 crores.
Here again the figures match to a rupee with the figures given by Mr Jaitley in November 2003. May be the babus have forgotten about a concept called inflation.
NTT not to be a parking slot for retiring CCs and Board members:
It is not as if Mr Jaitley's Bill is again presented verbatim. There are certain changes. In the previous Bill, Chairman and members of the Board(CBEC and CBDT), members of the Settlement Commission and Chief Commissioners could become members of the NTT. But the new Bill allows only members of the CESTAT, ITAT and High Court Judges/or those who are eligible to be High Court judges to become members of the NTT. So all the members of the CESTAT and ITAT with seven years of experience can hope to join the NTT and all the career bureaucrats in the Revenue departments who nursed hopes of becoming NTT members are going to be a disappointed lot. The idea is perhaps that only persons with long judicial experience will become members of the NTT and that would give it the stature of a High Court whose powers it is going to be vested with. Here the new Bill seeks to set right an anomaly prevalent in the old Bill. As per the old Bill, a Chief Commissioner with one year's service was eligible to become a member of the NTT. But a CC who had joined the CESTAT just a year ago would not be eligible as he was required to complete seven years in the CESTAT to be eligible to become a member of NTT. But his junior who was perhaps not selected for the CESTAT could join the NTT and sit in appeal over his orders. Now such problems will not occur.
No distinction between judicial and technical members
Another major deviation from the previous Bill now is that the concept of judicial and technical member has been done away with. All are members - may be this will give the NTT a better status as a judicial and judicious body.
(See full text of the Bill in 'what's New')