The task force, among other things will monitor CIT chargewise collections particularly in respect of those charges where budget collections were not up to the mark.

The setting up of task force was prompted by the fact that after a gap of many years the CBDT failed to meet the Budget targets with a whopping shortfall during 1997-98. As against the Budget target of Rs 45,360 crore of collection through income tax, corporation tax and interest tax, the collections, as per the revised estimate amounted to Rs 38,167 crore resulting in a shortfall of Rs 7,193 crore. Several CCIT regions like Lucknow, Calcutta, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Ahmedabad recorded negative growth rate in respect of collectionsleading to massive shortfall in realisation.

During the current year the government has fixed the direct tax collection target of Rs 48,400 crore (Rs 26,550 crore for corporation tax, Rs 20,930 crore for income tax and Rs 920 crore for interest tax). The task force has been entrusted with the task of ensuring that these targets were met.

The task force will also be reviewing the recovery of realisable demand and monitor tax demands in respect of 100 defaulters of corporate/non-corporate cases in the country.

It will look into the cases of payment of top 100 tax payers in the case of corporate as well as non-corporate cases regarding payment towards advance tax as well as out of arrears demands. This will also be done at the CCIT level.

The task force will give emphasis to Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) collections and will come down heavily on TDS defaulters. Among other things it will also monitor top 50 dossier cases at the level of each CCIT.

The focus of the strategy for the direct tax collectionworked out by the CBDT for the current fiscal will be recovery rather than assessment. The emphasis, however, will also be on prosecution of willful defaulters in payment of taxes.

The CBDT has also proposed strengthening of the TDS machinery. It has been emphasised that wherever TDS wing has been given its due importance by the local income tax authorities, the results have been quite encouraging.

The other steps which have been contemplated by the CBDT for boosting direct tax collections include strengthening/augmenting of recovery machinery, particularly, offices of TROs, early completion of assessments to retain time for collection, putting in place a credible monitoring system at the level of DCIT, CIT and CCIT and mounting of survey operation to net in increased payment of taxes apart from detection of concealment.

The CBDT is quite optimistic that with the new proposals in the budget specially the "samadhan" scheme it would be possible to achieve the direct tax collection. The total arrearsdemand outstanding as on March 31, 1998 was estimated at Rs 42,947.25 crore.Although the cash collection of arrears demand and current demand was only 8 and 9 per cent respectively, the efforts would be made to increase it substantially to net more revenue.