Honouring the Honest & Other Direct Tax Reforms

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Honouring the Honest

  • It is a new platform launched recently by PM Modi to further digitize, reform and simplify the Income Tax Department’s functioning and make it transparent
Key features of the platform:
  • The platform has major reforms like faceless assessment, faceless appeal and taxpayers charter.
  • Faceless Assessment: (Implemented)
    • It aims to eliminate human interface between the taxpayer and the income tax department.
    • There will be no need for the taxpayer to visit the income tax office or the officer.
    • The selection of a taxpayer is possible through systems using analytics and Artificial Intelligence.
  • Faceless Appeal: Under the system, appeals will be randomly allotted to any officer in the country. The identity of the officer deciding the appeal will remain unknown.
  • Taxpayer Charter: This outlines the rights and responsibilities of both tax officers and taxpayers.
Need for such initiatives:
  • The number of taxpayers is significantly low with only 1.5 Crore paying taxes in a country of 130 Crore people. Therefore, it’s time for people to introspect and come forward to pay Income taxes due on them to build an AtmaNirbharBharat.
  • Besides, the country’s tax structure needed fundamental reforms as the earlier tax structure was developed from the one created during pre-independent times.
  • Even the several changes made during the post-independent times did not alter its fundamental character. Thus, the complexity of the earlier system made it difficult to conform.
Significance of the platform
  • Honest taxpayers of the country play a big role in nation-building. When the life of an honest taxpayer becomes easy then the country also develops.
  • Therefore, the tax system should be seamless, painless and faceless.
  • The new facilities launched are a part of the Government’s resolve to provide maximum governance with minimum government.
Other Recent Direct Tax Reforms:
  • The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has carried out several major tax reforms in direct taxes in recent years. The focus of the tax reforms has been on reduction in tax rates and on simplification of direct tax laws.
  • Corporate Tax rates were reduced from 30% to 22% in 2019.
  • For new manufacturing units the corporate tax rates were reduced to 15%.
  • Dividend Distribution Tax was also abolished in 2019.
(Dividend Distribution Tax – Company distribute the profit to Shareholders as dividend. Tax on the company for distribution of dividend. Company already pay corporate tax so Dividend distribution tax is abolished).
  • Bringing more transparency in official communication through the newly introduced Document Identification Number (DIN) wherein every communication of the Department would carry a computer generated unique document identification number.
  • Pre-filing income tax returns to increase the ease of compliance for taxpayers and to make compliance more convenient for individual taxpayers.
  • Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020 to provide for resolution of pending tax disputes.

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