Double the Taxpayer Base and Remove the Fear of Harassment from Taxpayer's Mind: PM Modi

BENGALURU: Steering his vision for a better India, PM Modi was present at the inauguration of the two-day annual conference of tax administrators, Rajasva Gyan Sangam at New Delhi. The event was attended by senior tax administrators from Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha.

Through the podium the Prime Minister underlined the need to double the taxpayer base from 5.43 crore, at present, to 10 crore. He also stressed on the need to remove the fear of harassment from the minds of taxpayers, a major reason behind “trust deficit” in the country. He said that administration should be founded on five pillars, viz. Revenue, Accountability, Probity, Information and Digitization (RAPID). He added that Indians inherently are honest, urging tax officers to be "soft and sober" while approaching taxpayers, keeping in mind that not everyone is a tax evader. However, he has asked the department to warn people that "the long arm of the law" will not leave tax defaulters. 

The Prime Minister has asked the officials to move towards digitization in order to make tax administration more efficient. Pointing at the shortcomings in the country’s system he said that a Google search on 'How to pay taxes in India' comes up with 7 crore answers, while on 'How not to pay taxes in India', it gives out 12 crore results.

"People within the country are not dishonest. People have no problem in paying taxes, but somewhere they have some problem. Understand that problem and try to remove it," Modi told the taxmen present at the conference. 

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