The committee was set up last week and consists of representatives from the department and professionals specialising in tax matters.

It includes chief commissioner of income tax (CCIT-I), B Mishra, four commissioners of income tax, HC Parikh, NC Tewari, W Hasan, RK Srivastava, joint commissioner, Rajiv Agrawal, Narayan Varma, chartered accountant, YP Trivedi, advocate and the president of the Indian Merchants' Chamber (IMC), KK Ramani, advocate, Mohan Nihalani, president, All India Exporters and Importers Association and Atul Bhagwati, ex-chairman, IMC.

The committee, headed by Misra, will have its first meeting on November 13. "The frequency of the meetings will depend upon the workload," a committee member said, adding that any doubts about the scheme will be clarified by thecommittee.

"We will also thrash out solutions for doubts faced by the department in implementing the scheme while simultaneously looking into the problems faced by the assessees," he added.

The samadhan scheme seeks to provide a quick and voluntary settlement of tax dues outstanding as on March 31, 1998. It is targeting tax arrears of around Rs 50,000 crore pending in both direct and indirect tax enactments.

Although the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has advised the commissioner of Income Tax (appeals) to be liberal in granting adjournments in cases where the taxpayers are coming under the scheme, it has not solicited the desired results.

Many assessees are still awaiting the judgment of the Delhi high court in a public interest petition filed by the All India Federation of Tax Practitioners' (AIFTP).

The association has challenged the scheme on the grounds that it favours those assessees who have not paid tax while ignores those who have paid their tax. AIFTP has also suggested removal ofsome sections of the scheme to remove discrimination. The high court order is expected this week.

It is estimated that around five lakh appeals pending before various stages of appeal in direct taxes are eligible to come under the scheme.