The income tax department will "erase" petty tax demands pending against about 80 lakh taxpayers on its own and issue a "speaking order" explaining the process to be followed, CBDT chairman Nitin Gupta said Friday, a day after the measure was proposed in the interim Budget. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had on Thursday declared the government's proposal to withdraw outstanding direct tax demands up to Rs 25,000 till 2009-10 fiscal and up to Rs 10,000 for financial years 2010-11 to 2014-15. This was being done, she said, as part of an effort to improve ease of living and ease of doing business for citizens. The finance minister added that there were "a large number" of petty, non-verified, non-reconciled or disputed direct tax demands, many of them dating as far back as the year 1962, which continue to remain on the books, causing anxiety to honest taxpayers and hindering refunds of subsequent years. "We will erase these demands, we will extinguish such a demand from the