As the coronavirus pandemic has serious dented economic activity across the country, the government is hopeful that tax collections will bounce back and the initial trends seem to be encouraging. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) PC Mody said that the change in the tax administration by way of faceless assessment and the improved form 26AS would lead to better compliance, which will help augment tax collections.
Here are excerpts from the interview:
Q. Fresh concerns have been raised on tax targets as CBDT could not meet the tax collection target last year. Where do we stand on tax targets as of today? Will the tax department meet the target set for FY20-21, given the COVID-19 pandemic?
A: We all know that the economy was impacted due to the pandemic. As of now, tax collection looks satisfactory, given the situation. The lockdown had an adverse impact on economic activities, but slowly the economy looks to be coming back to normalcy and initial trends which we are seeing are encouraging and positive. It's too early to talk
Q. The government has been talking about easing taxpayers compliance, faceless assessment was one such initiative launched last year. Could you share an update?
A: Easing taxpayer compliance is an on-going process. We have taken many measures in the past including e-assessment. Faceless assessment was launched last year as a flagship project. It is a paradigm shift in the income tax system. Faceless assessment is aimed at eliminating individual discretion in assessment through dynamic jurisdiction.
Q. There were allegations on corrupt practices in the department and tax payers being harassed. How do you plan to address these issues?
A: Scrutiny cases are now being handled through a completely automated system. Cases under faceless assessment will be allocated irrespective of location of cases and officer. Also, the scrutiny of cases under the faceless assessment scheme will be done by a team instead of an individual officer. Earlier, an individual officer used to assess and often call taxpayers to the Income Tax office repeatedly, more so because at times the officer was unable to comprehend all aspects of scrutiny. But now, teams comprising assessing officers, additional commissioner and PCIT will scrutinise cases post complete assessment, so that a taxpayer is approached just once or twice for a case. Also, cases will be allocated randomly through an automated allotment done by national e-assessment centre.
Q. By when will you be able to complete the first round of faceless assessment?
A: We aim to complete faceless assessment of remaining of the 58,000 cases by October end.
First Published: Jul 20, 2020 11:10 PM IST
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