Asking officials of the Income Tax Department to be more approachable and less intimidating, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told them on Wednesday to use unthreatening language in tax notices. As she added, "Your notices should be in simple language. The moment a notice goes, people get intimidated.".
“Let the experience of filing tax return on the first day be as good as filing it on the last day. We have to ensure that threatening language in tax notices and messages is avoided,” FM Sitharaman said.
She also called upon tax officials to use their powers effectively to bring in compliance while instilling fear in none of the taxpayers. "The approach should be measured and situation-responsive—there should be no strong-arm methods," she said.
She asked for words to be couched in an invite mode rather than a compel mode, where the taxpayer is encouraged to file returns rather than feeling compelled under some duress to do so.
FM Sitharaman also spoke about PM Narendra Modi's vision of a very simplified tax system and asked the Income Tax Department to work with transparency and less intimidation.
She also said that a new Tax Code or Income Tax Act would come within six months, which could contain provisions to make the system seamless, painless and faceless and thus reduce litigation. The new regime will thus be in sync with the objectives laid down by the Prime Minister for making the system seamless, painless, and faceless.
She also appealed for improving the pace of processing refunds, saying "Can we expedite the issue of refunds?"
She praised the enlargement of the tax base by saying, "58.57 lakh income tax returns were filed by first-time taxpayers, marking a significant milestone." This increase speaks highly of India moving towards greater formalization in tax compliance.
FM Sitharaman thanked the taxpayers and income tax officials for their CONTRIBUTION toward the Indian economy, saying it is for the first time that income tax collections have reached their highest-ever level in the country. She further stated that 72 percent of taxpayers have migrated to the new, simplified tax regime, which is an excellent achievement from the point of view of tax administration.
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