India Aiming For Simplified Tax System, Singh Reveals
Speaking on Tuesday, Indian Finance Minister, Jaswant Singh revealed that the
government is seeking to simplify the tax system and to scrutinise more closely
the interaction between tax officers and taxpayers. The Times of India newspaper quoted Mr Singh as announcing, in response to
concerns expressed over the treatment of several wealthy industrialists by the
tax authority, that: 'We are bringing in uniform rates and simplification, and to address the problem
of discretionary power of [the] authorities, we are working towards elimination
of [the] interface between citizens or taxpayers and the authorities.' He went on to add that: 'The three great weaknesses of the tax system are the
tax administration, discretionary authority of tax officers and the absence
of computerisation,' and bemoaned the fact that at around 3% of GDP, direct
tax collection levels are nearly half of indirect taxes, which amount to 6%
of GDP. 'It should have been the reverse,' he observed yesterday. .
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