Fair, Faceless and Fearless: PM Modi launches Transparent Taxation platform to benefit honest taxpayers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today unveiled a new platform to ease the compliance burden for the "honest taxpayer". As per PM Modi, 3 key attributes of this new Tax assessment system are Fair, Faceless and Fearless. PM Modi said a "faceless appeal facility" will be available to all citizens from September 25, which is Deen Dayal Upadhyaya's birth anniversary, and the initiatives will strengthen the efforts of "reforming and simplifying our tax system".

The new system does away with territorial jurisdiction and replaces individual discretion with team-based assessment, thereby bringing in transparency.

“This platform has big reforms like faceless assessment, faceless appeal and taxpayer’s charter. It will help reduce government interference. It will go with Govt’s vision of Maximum Governance, Minimum Government.” Modi said in his inaugural address via video conferencing.

"Taxpayers will now be given the respect they deserve. The taxpayer will now be trusted, not looked at with doubt. The tax department will have to carry out the steps and processes in a time-bound manner," the Prime Minister added. 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the platform brings in a transparent, efficient and accountable tax administration. “It uses technology, Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence,” she said.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi also appealed to people to voluntarily pay their taxes. "In the last 6 to 7 years, the number of people filing income tax returns has increased. But it cannot be denied that only 1.5 crore people pay taxes in a country of 130 crore. I hope and urge people who do not fall under any tax net now to come forward by themselves in this regard ( and pay tax)."

While faceless assessment and Taxpayers’ Charter came into effect from Thursday itself, the facility of faceless appeals will be rolled out from September 25.

Announced in the budget for 2020-21, Taxpayers’ Charter is aimed at promoting voluntary compliance by creating trust between taxpayers and the administration. Giving it in the statute, it is binding on the tax department. The Charter lists out the fundamental rights of taxpayers and basic standards of services that they should expect. The department will be expected to provide services that are fair and efficient. It aims to change the relationship between taxpayers and the tax department from being an enforcer to a facilitator. Only handful of countries like US, Australia and Canada have such provision of “Taxpayer’s charter” in their law