New Delhi: The Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt Nirmala Sitharaman exhorted the Income Tax officers to be prompt in redressing the grievances of the tax payers and expand the tax base in a non-intrusive manner. Addressing officers at the Income Tax day celebrations here today , the Finance Minister asked the department to firmly deal with those who try to evade taxes and game the system while taking steps to provide better tax payer services to facilitate the honest taxpayers. Borrowing from Kautilya’s Arthashastra, she urged that the department should collect taxes like the Bee who sucks only that much nectar from the flower as is absolutely necessary, the Finance Minister added. She said the three enforcement wings of the revenue department – the Income Tax department, the Enforcement Directorate and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence – should share the information about assessees base and profile of assessee for better coordination in identifying of tax evasion/ avoidance. She also congratulated the department for working towards changing the mindset of the people and continue to work to reduce the trust deficit thereby helping them to become more tax compliant.
The function was attended by Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs , senior officials of Department of Revenue including the Revenue Secretary, officers from other departments including CBI and ED Director, Settlement Commission, Chief Controller of Accounts, Chairman and Members of the Central Board of Direct Taxes and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs respectively, as also other senior officers of the Income Tax Department (ITD).
In his address , Shri Anurag Singh Thakur , Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs underlined the importance of mobilization of resources as an important component in the vision of New India as envisioned by Hon’ble Prime Minister. He urged the department to take steps to encourage voluntary compliance and to address grievances especially pertaining to senior citizens and specially-abled persons. He also emphasized that collection of revenue should be done in a tax payer friendly manner and that the softer side of the department especially the initiatives of the department in the social sector also be highlighted.
Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey , Revenue Secretary congratulated the department for becoming one of the few organizations in the world to have switched to almost cent percent e-filing in such a short time. He also lauded the new initiatives launched in the area of faceless assessment and hoped that the department would continue to use data mining and other non-intrusive methods to augment revenue collection. The Chairman CBDT, Shri P.C. Mody, stressed upon the technological changes in the ITD which have given it an edge in tackling tax evasion and also urged the department to work in a fair and transparent manner.
At the function , the Finance Minister released a departmental publication titled “Investigation of Accounts” and also launched an in-house e-journal “Taxalogue” or Dialogue on Taxes, which is a new initiative taken by CBDT being a quarterly e-journal where one can contribute articles on issues pertaining to taxation. Shri Thakur launched the “Publicity Kit for Outreach Programmes” developed by the department to facilitate easy availability of publicity material to field offices of the department for conducting outreach programmes for increasing tax awareness among the public. The event also included the release of departmental publication on “Transfer Pricing” by the Revenue Secretary. A film titled “Aaykardata- Badalte Bharat ka Bhagidar” detailing the contribution of the Department towards nation building was also screened.
