Platform for Transparent Taxation - Honouring the Honest - All India Radio (AIR) IAS UPSC

Platform for Transparent Taxation – Honouring the Honest – All India Radio (AIR) IAS UPSC

IASbaba

August 22, 2020

Platform for Transparent Taxation – Honouring the Honest

Topic: General Studies 2:

Mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of people

In news:

“Transparent Taxation — Honouring the Honest” platform was launched recently.
The platform provides faceless assessment, faceless appeal and a taxpayers’ charter.
Aimed at easing the tax compliance and also rewarding honest taxpayers in the midst of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic which has severely hit the Indian economy because of the rising number of cases and the lockdowns.
The platform will add strength to the government’s efforts of reforming and simplifying the tax system.

Faceless Assessment:

Under faceless assessment, the scrutiny of returns of a taxpayer will be done by a tax officer selected at random and not necessarily from the same jurisdiction.
This will do away the need for any face-to-face contact between the taxpayer and tax official, thereby reducing the chances of coercion and rent-seeking.
The move is expected to ease the compliance burden for assessees and reward the “honest taxpayer”, who plays a big role in nation-building.
A faceless tax system would give the taxpayer confidence on fairness and fearlessness.
It helps to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of income taxpayers.
The assessment system seeks to eliminate corrupt practices by doing away with the territorial jurisdiction of income-tax offices.

Faceless appeal facility:

This facility would be available to all citizens from September 25 (Deen Dayal Upadhyaya’s birth anniversary)
A faceless appeal system would allow the taxpayer to appeal against a tax official’s decision without the need of making a physical representation.

Taxpayers’ charter

The taxpayers’ charter was announced in the Union Budget for fiscal year 2020-21 by the Finance Minister.
The charter outlines the rights and duties of an honest taxpayer.
It also defines the commitment of the tax department and the expectations from the taxpayers.
It is a step towards bringing together rights and duties of the taxpayer and fixing the government’s responsibilities towards the taxpayer

Do you know?

All these above reforms are likely to empower citizens by ensuring time-bound services by the Income Tax Department.
PM appealed to those not paying taxes, despite having the ability, to come forward and commit themselves to the cause of making the country self-reliant.

Connecting the Dots: