Govt’s to Further Simplify Direct Tax Laws: Nirmala Sitharaman

The Government’s endeavour has been to further simplify the Direct Tax laws and has brought in a major reform by giving the option to taxpayers to opt for a new simpler tax regime, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

In her message on the 160th Income Tax Day, the Minister also lauded the department for being responsive to the needs of the taxpayers during this pandemic time by relaxing various compliance requirements and addressing their liquidity concerns.

Appreciating its continuous efforts towards making the tax administration taxpayer-friendly, transparent and geared towards facilitating voluntary compliance, she said there has been a paradigm shift in its role in recent years, from being just a revenue collecting organisation to becoming a more citizen-centric establishment. “Our endeavour has been to continue the initiative of simplification of Direct Tax laws. In line with the same, we brought in a major tax reform by ushering in a new simpler tax regime for our taxpayers, who now have the option of remaining in the old tax regime or moving to the new simpler regime,” Sitharaman said.

She said the Government has reduced corporate tax rates by phasing out exemptions, while encouraging businesses to start manufacturing which is in tandem with the clarion call of Aatmanirbhar Bharat given by PM Narendra Modi.

She said that the department has effectively deployed technological tools to facilitate honest tax payers and also plug revenue leakage.

“Confident that the department will not only continue to play a critical role in the growth and prosperity of the nation, but will also strive to keep improving and set new standards of professionalism,” the Minister added. She lauded the dept for keeping pace with the fast changing economic landscape and adapting to the concomitant challenge of ensuring that tax revenues grow commensurate with the pace of economic growth.