6 Takeaways From PM Modi’s ‘Painless, Seamless, Faceless’ Tax Reforms

In a move to ease the burden of taxpayers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled out a series of tax reforms today.

Of this, the major reforms include a taxpayer’s charter and faceless assessment as a part of the government’s effort to easing the compliance for assesses and reward the “honest taxpayer“. In a live announcement on the television, the PM said that the “faceless appeal facility” will be available to all citizens of the country on September 25.

PM also announced the launch of the “Transparent Taxation – Honoring The Honest” platform, in what he said will strengthen efforts of “reforming and simplifying our tax system”.

“The country’s honest taxpayer plays a big role in nation building… The new facilities being launched today reinforce the government’s commitment to honoring the honest,” he said while addressing the nation.

This morning, the Finance Ministry tweeted out with the hashtag ”HonoringTheHonest”, asserting that faceless appeals would involve random allotment of cases.

Below are the six key takeaways from PM Modi’s virtual address:

1. “The Transparent Taxation platform is based on reforms such as faceless assessment, faceless appeal, and taxpayers’ charter… A ‘faceless’ tax system will give the taxpayer confidence on fairness and fearlessness,” – PM Modi.
2. “The government is now focussing on making tax-paying seamless, painless, faceless. Faceless as it shouldn’t matter who is paying tax and who is tax officer,” he added.
3. “Taxpayers will now be given the respect they deserve. The taxpayer will now be trusted, not looked at with doubt. The tax department will have to carry out the steps and processes in a time-bound manner,” the PM said. The taxpayers’ charter was earlier announced in the 2020-21 Union Budget by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. It will ensure time-bound services by the Income Tax Department.
4. Speaking further in the virtual address, the PM said that the government has undertaken various tax reforms during the last six years, and structural reforms have reached a new milestone. The corporate taxes have been cut to 22 percent from 30 percent for existing companies, and 15 percent for new manufacturing units and scraping of dividend distribution tax in recent times.
5. Besides this, the Central Board of Direct Taxes – the top policy-making body of the Income Tax Department – has simplified the income tax return filing process, lowered taxes for the common man, and launched its “Vivad Se Vishwas” scheme to expedite the resolution of pending tax disputes.
6. Almost all of the Income Tax Department’s functions – starting from the filing and processing of income tax returns, and the issuance of refunds are performed in the electronic mode without any human intervention.

What’s your opinion on this new ‘Painless, Seamless, Faceless’ Tax Reforms?