(Image source from: indiatoday)

PM Modi launched a new platform honoring the taxpayers of India. What is it and how will it help the tax paying citizens in the country?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, while launching the new platform for tax payers of India said that this platform will have big reforms including faceless assessment and appeal.

Modi has asserted in the launch event that all the efforts are to make the Indian tax system a painless, faceless and a seamless one.

So, how will this platform be helpful for you? What changes will a tax paying citizen witness from now on? Read on to know more.

What is Transparent Taxation?

Transparent taxation is a platform or a new taxation scheme to reward the honest tax payers of the country and an initiative to reform direct taxes in the county.

These reforms will change the way taxes are being paid till now and will make the process public friendly and people centric. The platform brings in big reforms like tax payers’ charter, faceless appeal and faceless assessment.

What is faceless assessment?

The faceless assessment reform eliminates the need for a tax payer to visit the income tax office or the officer for any queries on tax payments. In a nutshell, it is a faceless tax scrutiny which eliminates the interface between tax payer and the income tax department.

Under this new system, the selection of the tax payer will be done through data analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Moreover, territorial jurisdiction will be abolished and the draft assessment order, the review and the finalization will take place in different cities.

Cases will also be allocated on a random basis and the appellate decision will be team based and reviewed. Moreover, any assessment other than exceptions to faceless schemes will be nulled and be made invalid.

What is faceless appeal?

Under this scheme, appeals of the tax payers will be automatically allocated to random tax officer in the country and the identity of the officer will remain unknown to the payer.

Also, there will be no need for a layman to visit the any income tax office for any kind kind of query. Exceptions to this scheme will be serious frauds, major tax evasions, Black money and Benami property etc.

What is the taxpayers’ charter?

The taxpayers’ charter was announced in the Union Budget session in the fiscal year of 2020-21. This charter lists down the rights and responsibilities of both tax payers and the tax officers.

This scheme is likely to empower the citizens of the country by timely services from the IT department and also to improve services to the tax payers.

Faceless assessment and the taxpayers’ charter will come into force from August 13, 2020. However, faceless appeal will come into force from September 25 this year.

How will the platform benefit the taxpayer?

The platform will make the Indian tax system smoother. The tax administration will work on solving the problem without engaging the tax payer into multiple issues.

The IT department will attempt to simplify the process by ensuring that it doesn’t matter who is paying the tax and who is the tax officer.

PM Modi also said that from now the taxpayers will be given the respect and trust they deserve.

The reforms are being aimed at transparency, building trust, efficiency, accountability, convenience and compliance.

By Gayatri Yellayi