Budget to make life simpler for taxpayers: CBDT chief

New Delhi, February 2

Although there is no relief for individual taxpayers in the Budget, the government believes significant changes in the income tax processes will make their life simpler.

“The (government’s) endeavour is to eliminate irritants in the processes to curb inefficiencies, ensure hassle-free and easy interaction between the taxpayers and tax department,” said Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairperson JB Mohapatra while speaking at a post-Budget interactive session organised by FICCI.

Mohapatra said the provisions relating to litigation management to avoid repetitive appeals, clarification on various interpretation issues to plug long prone litigation between taxpayers and the tax department, new provisions to ease faceless assessment process based on last year’s experience are some of the key changes announced in the Finance Bill, 2022.

Chairperson of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs Vivek Johri drew attention to the simplification of customs tariff structure, elimination of 500 exemption entries from the Customs tariff and rate rationalisation under Customs for supporting ‘Make in India’ initiative.

The government also amended the Customs Act to plug operational gaps to align provisions in line with Supreme Court judgment in the case of Canon India, he added.

Will ensure hassle-free interaction

The (government’s) endeavour is to eliminate irritants in the processes to curb inefficiencies, ensure hassle-free and easy interaction between taxpayers and the I-T department. — JB Mohapatra, Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes