Income Tax officials of India spouted off their objection against the new faceless tax assessment programme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to eliminate the corruption & increase the tax collection, a joint letter by tax unions showcases.
Delegates of Income Tax Gazetted Officers’ Association & Income Tax Employees Federation wrote a joint letter to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) expressing their anguish on the latest major reformation in the tax collection mechanism, on the 3rd of this month.
The joint letter dated October 3 says, “The scheme is being implemented in a hurry without considering the concerns of the majority of the stakeholders,”. It also says “We express our strong displeasure on this type of unilateral decision-making as it is not in the interest of the efficient working of the Department.”
According to the tax officials, opposition to the new faceless tax assessment & scrutiny programme from within the administration may result in disharmony & ruggedness for the new system.
Many tax officials are of the view that the new faceless tax assessment will abbreviate the tax collection and increase the burden on the tax officials who are already put in traction to meet the tax collection targets in a gloomy economic scenario when the corporate taxes have also been curtailed by the government.
By the same token, the tax officials are already blamed by many taxpayers for the tax harassment practices. The recent death case of V.G. Siddharta, founder of Cafe Coffee Day in July, also shown the tax officials in a bad light as the suicide note left behind the V.G. Siddhartha accused tax authorities of driving the victim up the wall. However, the authenticity of the note is not yet confirmed.
The faceless assessment was launched with the intention to increase transparency, decrease litigation, systematize the procedures and ease of business activities, as told by CBDT.
“It is also likely to lead to quicker disposal of cases,” statement made by CBDT.
However, the new system is summing up a burden on the tax authorities. Officers are transferred to the eight regional e-assessment centres to fill the newly formed vacancies, this is also increasing the load of extra work on the colleagues who are still working on the same positions. But, the officers appointed for the new posts are also not happy due to inadequate & improper office accommodation, infrastructure, seats and computer, as revealed by tax union’s letter.
Already, the goods and services tax (GST) regime was considered as against the grain by the taxpayers as well as by tax experts because it has disheartened the small and medium-sized businesses and also brought down the economic condition of India. Now, this biggest reform in the tax collection system is another issue which led the Modi government to face furore.
