Topics Covered: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.
Transparent Taxation – Honoring the Honest:
Context:
It is a new platform launched recently by PM Modi to further digitise the Income Tax Department’s functioning.
- The platform seeks to “reform and simplify our tax system.”
Key features of the platform:
The platform has major reforms like faceless assessment, faceless appeal and taxpayers charter.
Faceless assessment and taxpayers charter have come into force. However, the facility of faceless appeal will be available from September 25.
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, its 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.
Recent tax reforms:
- Latest laws reduced the legal burden in the tax system where now the limit of filing cases in the High Court has been fixed at up to 1 crore rupees and up to 2 crores for filing in the Supreme Court.
- Initiatives like the ‘Vivaad Se Vishwas’ Scheme pave the way for most of the cases to be settled out of court.
- The tax slabs have also been rationalised as a part of the ongoing reforms where there is zero tax upto an income of 5 lakh rupees, while the tax rate has reduced in the remaining slabs too.
InstaLinks:
Prelims Link:
- About Vivaad Se Vishwas scheme.
- Latest tax reforms- direct and indirect.
- Overview of Transparent Taxation platform.
Mains Link:
Discuss the need for and significance of Transparent Taxation – Honoring the Honest.
Sources: pib.
