PM Modi Launches a Transparent Taxation Platform for Taxpayers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a transparent taxation platform – Honouring the Honest – on August 13, 2020, via a video conferencing. The event was attended by many industrialists such as Ratan Tata, Uday Kotak and Anand Mahindra. The newly launched platform will include faceless assessment, faceless appeal and taxpayers charter. How will this new system work and benefit taxpayers? Let’s find out here.

Details of the New Taxation Platform

Faceless assessment and taxpayers charter, the two components of the taxation platform, is implemented from August 13, 2020. Whereas, the faceless appeal service will come into force from September 25, 2020. Faceless assessment will be decided on a random basis by a computer and be changed from time to time. This will lead to no communication between the income taxpayers and the income tax administration. PM Modi has expressed confidence in the taxpayers charter by terming it a big step in the country’s development journey. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who also attended the event, said that the new initiatives form a part of the Prime Minister’s vision to empower taxpayers in India. She also added that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has put in a framework to achieve this vision.

Tax Reforms Announced by the Government in the Recent Past

The government has been bringing changes to the tax system for the last couple of years to ensure a greater degree of transparency. In September 2019, the government reduced the corporate tax rate to 15%-22% from 30% before this announcement was made by the Finance Minister back then. The government had also launched Direct Tax ‘Vivad se Vishwas’ scheme for faster resolution of pending tax disputes. Further, the income tax department has eased compliance norms for startups and has gone ahead with the pre-filing of income tax returns, helping individual taxpayers meet compliance norms conveniently. As of now, return filing, return processing, refund issuance, assessment and many other functions of the income tax department are done electronically without any human interface.