The Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, has given his approval to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to set up a criminal investigation directorate.

This would pave the way for the Income Tax Department to investigate cases involving tax evasion arising out of criminal activities. With this decision, high profile cases like Hasan Ali or those involving black money stashed away in the Liechtenstein Bank can now be effectively investigated, official sources said.

The Income Tax Department had come in for some criticism in the Hasan Ali case. In the recent years, there has also been criticism that the Department could do little in bringing back the black money stashed by Indians in banks abroad.

I-T Commissioners meet

Meanwhile, Mr Mukherjee will inaugurate the 27th Annual Conference of Chief Commissioners and Directors General of Income Tax in the Capital on Tuesday. The two-day conference will, among other things, discuss the various developments and the steps taken to tackle black money.

The administrative challenges that would be faced by the Income Tax Department during the transition to Direct Taxes Code (DTC) and measures to tackle those challenges are likely to be discussed, sources said.

The other issues that would be deliberated upon include use of information from central information bureau, processing of returns in centralised processing centre (CPC) environment, role of Income Tax department in assisting the Election Commission in ensuring fair elections besides strengthening of tax deduction at source (TDS) systems.

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