Income Tax portal issues to be resolved in few days, retail inflation to remain between 2%- 6%: FM Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on August 16 assured that the issues on the new Income Tax tax portal will be resolved in the next few days.

She said the concerns have been resolved to a large extent and that the Revenue Secretary is monitoring the portal issues on a weekly basis.

“Nandan Nilekani (Infosys co-founder) sends a message on a weekly basis; will inform if the deadline to file return gets extended,” the Finance Minister said, adding that it is not possible to revert to the old tax portal as it will cause more confusion.

Sitharaman’s remarks come against the backdrop of issues that taxpayers are facing on the new Income Tax portal, a project that was contracted to IT major Infosys in 2019. The company has said that several issues have been resolved and that the new platform has seen over 10 lakh Income Tax returns filed so far.

Speaking about the pandemic situation, the minister said that with continued efforts, India will be able to stop the third COVID-19 wave. Vaccinations will enhance the confidence of people, she added.

While most states are gradually opening up, a few are still under partial shutdown, which is impacting the economic activity in the country. Sitharaman said demand will pick up as lockdowns are lifted in several states.

Sitharaman said retail inflation is expected to be contained between 2 percent and 6 percent, the target set by the Reserve Bank of India. Her comments come as retail inflation eased in July to 5.59 percent year-on-year after holding above 6 percent for two months in a row, while wholesale inflation eased to 11.16 percent from a record high of 13.11 percent in May.

The finance minister expects a better festive season and the revenue to be buoyant in the coming months. She also stated that the government will stick to the borrowing calendar as of now.

Moreover, Sitharaman said the rules that will lead to the scrapping of the retrospective tax demands made on companies such as Cairn Energy Plc and Vodafone Plc will be framed soon. Parliament earlier this month passed a bill to scrap all tax demands made using the 2012 retrospective tax legislations. The bill provides for government refunding the retro tax to companies provided all legal challenges are withdrawn.

Now the rules for the same have to be framed, which Sitharaman said will be done soon. "I will follow the law passed in Parliament," she said.

The Finance Minister also ruled out a cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel to ease rates that have touched all-time highs, saying payments in lieu of past subsidised fuel price pose limitations. “Unless Centre and states discuss a way out, there is no solution possible to this,” she said.