Income Tax Day: Sitharaman asks tax officers to deal firmly with tax evaders

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday exhorted the income tax officers to be prompt in redressing the grievances of the taxpayers and expand the tax base in a non-intrusive manner.

Addressing officers at the Income Tax Day celebrations here, the Finance Minister asked the department to firmly deal with those who try to evade taxes and game the system while taking steps to provide better taxpayer services to facilitate the honest taxpayers.

Borrowing from Kautilya's Arthashastra, she urged that the department should collect taxes like the 'bee' who sucks only that much nectar from the flower as is absolutely necessary.

She said the three enforcement wings of the revenue department - the Income Tax department, the Enforcement Directorate and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence - should share the information about assessees base and profile of assessee for better coordination in identifying of tax evasion and avoidance.

She also congratulated the department for working towards changing the mindset of the people and continue to work to reduce the trust deficit thereby helping them to become more tax compliant.

The event was also attended by Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Singh Thakur who underlined the importance of mobilization of resources as an important component in the vision of New India as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He urged the department to take steps to encourage voluntary compliance and to address grievances especially pertaining to senior citizens and specially-abled persons.

( With inputs from ANI )