Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Ravi Agrawal said there is no intention to reopen old cases following the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Tiger Global matter. In an exclusive interaction with Pushpita Dey and Dipak Mondal, he also explained how the Budget has addressed complications around taxing foreign assets and clarified key policy issues. Edited excerpts:
Could you explain how the government defines a small taxpayer under the Small Taxpayer Disclosure Scheme?
The background goes back to the Black Money Act (BMA) of 2015. Every year, India receives about 35–40 lakh pieces of information through the automatic exchange of information with various countries. These typically relate to small balances in foreign bank accounts, interest income, dividend income, and similar items.
A substantial portion of this information does not point to wilful tax evasion but to bona fide omissions. Many individuals were professionals or students who worked abroad for some time, left small balances in foreign accounts, or did not disclose minor streams of income such as interest or dividends.
Their intention was not to stash black money. However, there was no practical window for them to regularise these omissions, because disclosure in the normal course would attract penalties under the BMA. Here, a small taxpayer is not defined by income category but by prescribed thresholds. This window is meant only for past omissions — income or assets from three, five, or even ten years ago that are now being reported.
What happened to the income tax refunds that were held back in December?
About 95% of refunds, in terms of the number of cases, have already been released. Refunds were held back where they appeared to be wrongly claimed. Spot verifications in July–August revealed that certain intermediaries had facilitated such incorrect claims.
Over the last two years, around ₹1,750 crore worth of refund claims were reduced after taxpayers revised or updated their returns under the department’s “nudge” campaign. In total, over two years, 1.11 crore returns were revised or updated, leading to additional tax payments or reduced refund claims worth ₹8,800 crore.
We expect to release the remaining pending refunds shortly, likely in February.
On Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs), what prompted the recent clarification on capital gains tax?
The exemption from capital gains tax was always intended only for investors who subscribed to SGBs at issuance and held them until maturity. However, analytics showed that some investors who bought SGBs in the secondary market were also claiming this exemption, which was never the intent.
This applies across all tranches of SGBs, not just the 2015 series.
After the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Tiger Global case, will old cases be reopened?
The Supreme Court has interpreted the existing law. These provisions have long been part of the statute and are aligned with global OECD norms on treaty abuse and anti-avoidance. The department has consistently held this view. There is no intention to dig out old cases. Going forward, if similar transactions arise, they will be examined on a case-by-case basis.
How confident are you of meeting this year’s direct tax collection targets?
The targets are rational. With projected GDP growth of 8% and tax buoyancy of 1.09, the required growth rate is about 8.75%. Currently, tax collections are growing at around 9.4%, so we are confident of meeting the target.