THANJAVUR: Reiterating Prime Minister Narendra Modi's view that the tax payer is the nation builder, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday that the taxation process had been simplified to make compliance easier.
She was delivering the 16th Nani Palkhivala memorial lecture after inaugurating the centenary celebrations of the eminent jurist and economist and launching the TATA-Palkhivala chair on Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the Sastra School of Law, Thanjavur, through video conference.
"The honest taxpayer is the one who actually helps to build this country," she said. The taxpayer also helps governments carry forward every social welfare programme which is absolutely critical for the livelihoods of the poorest of the poor. Hence the taxation process should be simpler and easier for the taxpayer to be tax compliant, she added. To simplify the indirect tax system, the GST tax regime was rolled out with the aim of one country, one tax system.
After Prime Minister Modi assumed charge for the second time in 2019, the government has been looking at ways to simplify the direct tax system, she added. She pointed out that during September 2019, the government took the major step of bringing down corporate taxes. She said India is one of the countries where the corporate tax was lowest and the corporate tax methodology is the simplest.
An alternate personal tax regime without deduction has been introduced. While the old system is available, those who do not need exemption could opt for the alternate tax regime with lower tax rates, she added. She pointed out that of the total tax filings, only 0.25 submissions are scrutinized.
The Finance Minister said India gave a global leadership role during the pandemic. She said due to the digital India initiative taken by the government long before the pandemic, digital services could be provided during the outbreak.
While it was difficult even for advanced countries which wrote cheques for compensation, the Jan Dhan accounts helped in digital benefit transfer and the banking correspondents provided the cash at the door steps of the beneficiaries in the villages.
The urban populace could purchase online using the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) developed in the country. Even the vegetable sellers used this mode, she added.
Speaking at the meeting, N Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, said the judicial system has a huge capacity issue. He said around 3 crore cases are pending in the courts across the India. In this context, the Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) would make an enormous difference, he added. He said any problem including societal problems could be solved by technology, but not by technology alone. Technology must be put in the hands of the people, he added.
S Vaidhyasubramaniam, the Vice-Chancellor of SASTRA, said the deemed university has planned programmes throughout the year for the Nani Palkhivala centenary celebrations.