PM to launch platform to honour honest taxpayers

THIS IS THE LATEST IN A SERIES OF TAX REFORMS BY THE GOVT, INCLUDING PRE-FILLED I-T FORMS

NEWDELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the platform, ‘Transparent Taxation— Honouring the Honest’, on Thursday, part of the government’s ongoing direct tax reform, an official statement said.

“This [the platform] adds strength to our efforts of reforming and simplifying our tax system. It will benefit several honest tax payers, whose hard work powers national progress,” PM Modi said in a tweet.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman thanked the PM for agreeing to launch the platform. “Truly, this shall mark an important step forward in providing a simple and transparent taxation regime for India,” she said in a tweet.

A finance ministry spokesperson said the government has been implementing a series of tax reforms since last year when it had drastically reduced the corporate tax rate for existing and companies taking a hit of ₹1.45 lakh crore. The finance minister on September 20, 2019 reduced the corporate tax rate for domestic manufacturing companies from 30% to 22% and for new manufacturing companies from 25% to 15% provided they forgo exemptions. The Central Board of Direct taxes (CBDT) has been continuously introducing tax reforms that include simplification of direct tax laws and faceless tax assessment, the spokesperson said. “This includes bringing more transparency in official communications through the newly introduced Document Identification Number (DIN) wherein every communication of the department would carry a computer generated unique document identification number,” he added. Similarly, to increase the ease of compliance for taxpayers, the income-tax (I-T) department has introduced pre-filling of I-T returns to make compliance more convenient for individuals. Compliance norms for startups have also been simplified, he said.

“This move could very well work towards changing the taxpayer’s attitude in effective tax compliance and encourage expansion of tax base,” Aravind Srivatsan, partner at law firm Nangia Andersen LLP said.