In order to review the Income Tax Act, 1961 and to draft a new Direct Tax Law in consonance with economic needs of the country, the Government of India in November 2017 has constituted a Task Force. Who among the following is made the convenor of it ?
- (a)Shri Arvind Subramanian
- (b)Shri Arbind Modi
- (c)Shri Amitabh Kant
- (d)Dr. Bibek Debroy
Correct — B, Shri Arbind Modi. The Task Force constituted by the Ministry of Finance in November 2017 to review the Income-tax Act, 1961 and draft a new direct tax law had Arbind Modi, then a Member of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, as its convenor. Its terms of reference asked it to draft a law keeping in view the direct tax systems prevalent in other countries, international best practices, the economic needs of India and any other connected matters, and it was expected to report within six months. Arbind Modi was a career officer of the Indian Revenue Service with a long association with direct tax reform, which is why the convenorship went to a serving CBDT member rather than to an outside economist.
- (a)Shri Arvind Subramanian — This is the near-miss the item is built around. Arvind Subramanian, then Chief Economic Adviser, was associated with the Task Force — as a permanent special invitee, not as its convenor. The distinction between convening a body and attending it is exactly what the stem is testing.
- (c)Shri Amitabh Kant — Amitabh Kant was Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog at the time. NITI Aayog is a policy think tank and had no role in drafting the direct tax law; his name belongs to a different set of current-affairs items.
- (d)Dr. Bibek Debroy — Bibek Debroy was an economist who chaired the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and had earlier headed committees on the railways. He was not on this Task Force.
The Income-tax Act, 1961 had accumulated more than half a century of amendments, and successive governments tried to replace it. A Direct Taxes Code was drafted in 2009 and a Bill introduced in 2010, but it lapsed. The Task Force of November 2017 was the next attempt, set up on the Prime Minister's observation that the 1961 Act was drafted more than fifty years ago and needed to be redrafted. Bodies of this kind are convened by a serving officer of the department concerned and staffed with tax practitioners, chartered accountants and advocates, with the Chief Economic Adviser attending as a special invitee.
Anchor to the exam and then follow the story to its end, because it does have one. In April 2018 the Task Force was five months old and its report was awaited. Arbind Modi's group could not reach consensus and its work was left incomplete; the Task Force was reconstituted in November 2018 with Akhilesh Ranjan of the CBDT as convenor, and that body submitted its report in 2019. The larger project has since been completed. The Income-tax Act, 2025 received Presidential assent on 21 August 2025 and came into force on 1 April 2026, replacing the 1961 Act with a text of 536 sections across 23 chapters and 16 schedules, and introducing the single concept of the 'tax year' in place of the old distinction between the assessment year and the previous year. So the committee this item asks about belongs to the opening stage of a process that took eight years to land.
- The Task Force to draft a new direct tax law was constituted in November 2017 with Arbind Modi, Member of the CBDT, as convenor.
- Arvind Subramanian, then Chief Economic Adviser, was a permanent special invitee, not the convenor.
- Its terms of reference covered international best practices, the direct tax systems of other countries and India's economic needs.
- The Task Force was reconstituted in November 2018 under Akhilesh Ranjan and reported in 2019.
- The Income-tax Act, 2025 received assent on 21 August 2025 and came into force on 1 April 2026, replacing the Act of 1961.
- Choosing the Chief Economic Adviser because he is the most familiar economic name attached to the body.
- Confusing a convenor with a chairman or with a special invitee.
- Treating a committee's constitution as its conclusion — this one was reconstituted before it reported.
NDA sets one committee-and-chairman item per paper, drawn from the previous year's announcements, with plausible senior officials as distractors.
With reference to India's decision to levy an equalization tax of 6% on online advertisement services offered by non-resident entities, which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. It is introduced as a part of the Income Tax Act. 2. Non-resident entities that offer advertisement services in India can claim a tax credit in their home country under the 'Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements'. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Set two months after this NDA paper and turning on the same statute — the equalisation levy sat outside the Income-tax Act, which is part of why the Act was thought to need redrafting.
Who among the following is the Chairperson of the Goods and Services Tax Council?
- (a) The Prime Minister of India
- (b) The Union Finance Minister
- (c) The Speaker of the Lok Sabha
- (d) The President of India
Answer(b) The Union Finance Minister
The indirect-tax counterpart of this item, and the same test — who heads a named tax body, with senior office-holders as distractors.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Central Board of Direct Taxes functions under which ministry?
- (a)Ministry of Corporate Affairs
- (b)Ministry of Finance
- (c)Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- (d)Ministry of Home Affairs
Answer(b) Ministry of Finance — under the Department of Revenue.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following is a direct tax?
- (a)Goods and Services Tax
- (b)Customs duty
- (c)Income tax
- (d)Excise duty
Answer(c) Income tax — the burden falls on the person assessed and cannot be shifted.