Central Board of Direct Taxes is reportedly working on introducing an easy income tax regime that will offer increased facilities to high income tax payers. For a long time now, government circles have held a strong view that since 80% of the country’s direct tax is paid by 20,000 individuals, they should be accorded with priority treatment.
As per an IT department official, any tax payer is like a customer to the department and one who pays more should have additional facilities, says a report in the Economic Times.
According to reports, the government is planning to enable priority tax payers to meet tax officials across the table and resolve queries over liability. Also, if there is any assessment order on a priority tax payer, it will be issued to the company only after being vetted by a specialist of that sector. The plan is expected to reduce litigations and disputes on India’s tax system.
The government reportedly also aims to offer better treatment to people prone to tax evasion to encourage them to come under the tax net, but they will be monitored regularly through data feeds. Individual tax payers having Rs 5-10 lakhs annual income may be offered non-intrusive services, emphasizing on e-assessment, e-filing and e-scrutiny.
As a part of this taxpayer friendly plan, the government plans to create an environment where all the communication between the department and tax payer would be electronic. Also, the proposal under discussion talks about introducing a jurisdiction free assessment where the concerned officer need not be under the same area as the tax payer.
As per an IT Department official, all the proposed changes would require amendment in the Income tax law which can be taken up in the next budget. He also added that this would be an effective way to resolve tax issues and guide tax payers especially the large ones in order to increase transparency and ease of doing business in India.