With the effects of economic recession receding and manufacturing activity rising, the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), S.S.N. Moorthy, expressed hope that this fiscal’s target of Rs. 3.70 lakh crore in Direct Taxes will be achieved.
The Direct Taxes Collection last year was Rs. 3.38 lakh crore. The current year’s ambitious target set by the Union Finance Minister (Pranab Mukherjee) would be achieved, he said. He was addressing a meeting organised here on Thursday by the Madurai Branch of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
“India has not faced the problems of recession as severely as the Western countries and so, I am sure that with cooperation of Chartered Accountants, the targets could be achieved,” he said.
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The growth rate, which was hovering around 3 to 4 per cent, should increase to more than 12 per cent in order to achieve the target, he said.
He said, “At present we are in the midst of change when compared to the earlier periods, entering new systems, economic scenarios and environment.” Apart from resource mobilisation, the IT department had another face of providing services such as processing returns on time and issuing refund dues.
Admitting that some delay exists, Mr. Moorthy said that they were the result of moving from a two-tier to three tier system. He also said that the Department was moving towards ‘Sevottam,’ which is a model for benchmarking excellence in public service delivery.
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The assessee is being looked upon, apart from being a taxpayer, as a customer who requires certain services. Experiments were being done at Pune, Chandigarh and Cochin where the IT office has a front office that will take care of documentation, give acknowledgments and get back to the tax payer within a timeline without him having to approach the office, he said.
The ambience at IT offices was also being improved. Speaking about the draft Direct Tax Code, he said that it would definitely come into force in a few years but with some modifications, he said.