Tax laws to be simplified: Tax panel chief

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SME Times News Bureau | 09 Oct, 2015
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is focusing on simplifying tax laws to encourage timely tax payment by citizens, its chief said on Thursday.

"The CBDT will focus on greater facilitation of the taxpayer and simplification of tax laws to alleviate confusion and clarify interpretation," said CBDT chairperson Anita Kapurat the third CII Global Tax Summit, according to a statement by the industry chamber.

Highlighting that people avoid paying taxes as they believe the tax law is complexand the tax department does not facilitate tax compliance, she said, that in line with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's budget speech, CBDT is considering reducing tax rates and removing exemptions to effect tax laws simplification.

Kapur said that too many incentives tend to distort the law and leads to excessive litigation, the statement added.

In his address, Authority for Advance Rulings (Income Tax, Customs and Excise and Service Tax) chairman Justice V.S. Sirpurkar said: "Ehere is a need to educate the masses to take up tax responsibility and create better infrastructure that would enable faster disposal of cases and a reduction in pendency."

According to the CII statement, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS) deliverables advocate consistent tax rules throughout the world.

The tax department needs to gear up to do away with tax avoidance, in line with the international agenda, it said.