Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) member Akhilesh Ranjan, who has been overlooked for chairmanship of the apex direct tax policy making body, has sought voluntary retirement citing personal reasons.

Ranjan, who served as the convener of the task force on the new direct tax code, had submitted recommendations to the government earlier this month along with other members of the panel, laying the foundation of direct reforms. CBDT members are of the rank of special secretaries. Special secretaries are at par with the secretaries to the government but are not functional heads of their department.

The government had on Thursday given a one-year extension to serving CBDT Chairman P C Mody, who was to retire on August 31. Ranjan was next in the succession line. On earlier occasions too, senior CBDT members have lost the chance to head the Board on account of extensions granted to serving chairman.

A person privy to the development, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Ranjan’s move was not in protest as it was the prerogative of the government to decide on appointments. His request for voluntary retirement was the result of reappraising personal priorities, said the person.

Ranjan who is an expert in international taxation had led India’s work alongside the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the G-20 nations on building a new global framework for preventing aggressive tax avoidance by multinational corporations. Ranjan has also played a key role in India’s efforts to bring digital economy firms into the tax net including by way of the equalisation levy introduced in 2016.

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