Budget tax proposals, GST rate tweaks key issues at hand for new revenue secy

Dr Arunish Chawla took charge as the revenue secretary in the Ministry of Finance on Thursday. Chawla, a 1992-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the Bihar cadre, holds a master’s and a doctorate in economics from the London School of Economics.

Before taking charge as the revenue secretary, Chawla served as the secretary in the Department of Pharmaceuticals in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers since November 1, 2023.

Before his role as pharmaceuticals secretary, Chawla was the managing director of the Metro Rail Project Patna. He also served as a senior economist at the International Monetary Fund on a foreign assignment through the Department of Economic Affairs, and as joint secretary in the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance.

With Chawla taking over, the crucial top revenue post was filled within two weeks of the former revenue secretary Sanjay Malhotra taking charge as the RBI governor.

The immediate issues at hand for Chawla will be budget deliberations including the proposed overhaul of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and the direct tax simplification that the government may be announcing in the upcoming budget.

The upcoming budget is expected to include a slew of tax-related announcements, including the Direct Tax Code, for tax law simplification. The Direct Tax Code will replace the Income Tax Act, 1961, focusing on reducing the compliance burden for individuals and the corporate sector, while also curbing litigation.

Yet another immediate task for Chawla as the revenue secretary will be the GST rate and slab rationalisation. The council meeting scheduled to be held on December 21 has deferred the decision pertaining to the GST rate and slab rationalisation, as the group of ministers under the GST Council needed more time to submit its recommendations. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has already mentioned that the rate rationalisation is a holistic exercise.