The Ministry of Finance announced the formation of the Tax Policy Research Unit (TPRU) and the Tax Policy Council (TPC) on February 2, 2016.15 The Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC) was set up in 2013 to make recommendations for reviewing the tax administration system in the country. TARC has recommended that tax policy and related legislation needs structural modification. Currently, research related to direct and indirect tax policies is handled under two different boards within the Ministry of Finance. In this regard, it recommended the formation of a common research body to achieve coherence and consistency in direct and indirect tax policies. TPRU is a multi-disciplinary tax research body that performs research on topics related to both direct and indirect taxes. The TPC, chaired by the Finance Minister, will suggest broad policy measures based on the research findings of the TPRU.
