Outlining a reform agenda for the Indian tax regime, the chamber said the country's tax regime has to be reoriented to make it simple, stable and user friendly.

The language of the Income Tax Act should be made simple and the provisions made clear. The government should also resolve grey areas and loopholes that lead to uncertainty.

The chamber has further stated that the procedures relating to appeals against orders of the assessing officers, be it assistant commissioners to joint commissioner (appeals) should be simplified.

Other suggestions of the chamber are:

--The revenue secretary or chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) should direct chief commissioner of all regions to get full data of the appeals pending with each commissioner (appeals) under his jurisdiction.

--Functioning of advisory councils at the field and centrallevels be activated.

Assessing authorities in "high pitched assessments" be appropriately disciplined when their assessments are set aside by the Appellate Authorities and

--Levy of interest should be linked to return income in all cases where proper books of accounts are maintained.

The chamber reasoned that availability of full data on appeals would give a complete picture of a case history till the date of order. It has further stated that the reason for undue delay in disposing off the appeal should be sought in writing. Thereafter, the chief commissioner should regularly monitor cases to expedite disposal.

Regarding the change in the language of the Act, the chamber has stated that the changes in law should be kept to the minimum and the changes should be made only later after full public debate, unless warranted otherwise.

The chamber has also called for relaxing norms for tax refunds, registration of property and tax deducted at source. CII felt that most of the changes could be enforcedwholly through notifications issued by the CBDT without bringing any bills through the parliament.

On the issue of income tax refunds, CII says refund orders should automatically accompany the assessment order, unless a specific problem exists. In such cases, the problem should be clearly stated in the order.

To simplify transfer of property, CII has stated section 230A of the Act should be amended to raise the ceiling level. Presently, the law prohibits registration of any transfer of immovable property valued at more than Rs 5 lakh unless transferor obtains a certificate saying that tax due from the person has been paid.

The chamber felt that the limit should be raised to Rs 15 lakh for Delhi and Mumbai and to Rs 10 lakh for other metros.

On rationalising provisions related to tax deducted at source, CII felt a pass book scheme for payment of the tax should be instituted cut down trips made by an assessee to designated banks to pay advance or self assessment tax. Besides, tax should be deducted onlyon the actual service charges and reimbursement of expenses incurred should be removed from the ambit of TDS. In addition, tax should be deductible only when interest becomes payable, and not while it is accruing.