PM Modi announces Taxpayers' Charter; what is it?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday announced a platform to reward honest taxpayers of the country. Part of the 'Transparent Taxation - Honoring The Honest' is a Taxpayers' Charter that states the commitments made by the government to the taxpayer. PM Modi called the document a big step in the country's journey towards development. He also announced the faceless assessment feature.

The Taxpayers' Charter is a two-way document for the assessor and the assessee. Through this document, the government has committed the following to the taxpayers:

• To provide fair, courteous, and reasonable treatment
• Treat taxpayer as honest
• To provide mechanism for appeal and review
• To provide complete and accurate information
• To provide timely decisions
• To collect the correct amount of tax
• To respect privacy of taxpayers
• To maintain confidentiality
• To hold its authorities accountable
• To enable representative of choice
• To provide mechanism to lodge complaint
• To provide a fair and just system
• To publish service standards and report periodically
• To reduce cost of compliance

The Taxpayers' Charter also highlights the obligations of the taxpayer. These are as follows:

• To be honest and compliant
• To be informed
• To keep accurate records
• To know what your representative does on your behalf
• To respond in time
• To pay in time

The Prime Minister said that out of all the tax returns in the year 2012-13, 0.94per cent underwent scrutiny. In the year 2018-19, it came down to 0.26 per cent. "This indicates that the scrutiny of the case has reduced by almost 4 times," he said adding, "Amidst all these efforts, the number of people filing income tax returns has increased by about two and a half crores in the last 6-7 years. But it is also true that in a country of 130 crores it is still very less."

PM Modi during his speech urged those who are able to pay but are not paying taxes to come forward with self-motivation. "The taxpayer is now assured of fair, courteous and rational behavior. That is, the income tax department now has to take care of the taxpayer's dignity sensitively," he stated.

Also read: PM Modi Speech Live: PM launches taxpayers' charter; says it's big step in country's development journey