Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue

Central Board of Direct Taxes

New Delhi, 2nd September 2017

PRESS RELEASE

Rajaswa Gyan Sangam 2017 – Highlights

The Hon’ble PM inaugurated the two day Rajaswa Gyan Sangam 2017 in the presence of Union Minister of Finance and Ministers of State (Finance) on 01/09/2017. The Hon’ble PM urged the officers to improve their work culture and incorporate a sense of urgency and measurability in their performance. He exhorted officers to fix clear targets to improve country’s tax administration by 2022, being the 75th anniversary of Independence. The Hon’ble PM desired that a push be given to E-Assessment, reduction of pendency of appeals, use of data analytics to track undeclared income and increase tax revenue and improved coordination with States for GST. The Hon’ble FM complimented CBDT in its proactive role in fighting tax evasion and unearthing substantial quantums of black money. He also congratulated the collaborative efforts of the officials of Centre & State in smooth roll out of GST. The Gyan Sangam also included joint sessions by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev who spoke on “Inner Engineering- Technologies for Well Being” and a session addressed by Shri KV Chowdary, Central Vigilance Commissioner who spoke on the importance of probity in public life. Short films by CBDT and CBEC were screened on the occasion.

These two days of Gyan Sangam have resulted in brain storming on several core functional issues and the bottlenecks in implementation of policies. Technical sessions were held on Effectiveness of Tax Administration, Maximization of Revenue, Litigation Management, E-Assessment, Tax Evasion and Prosecution, Widening of Tax Base, Tax Payer Services, GST and modernization of Customs. A few highlights are outlined hereunder:

1. It was decided that Assessing Officers be encouraged to maximize e-assessment in a phased manner and to ensure that work be completed online so that there is complete transparency.

2. As a step towards effective litigation management, CBDT aims to achieve the twin objectives of substantially reducing the number of appeals and the disputed demand before CIT(Appeals). The focus is to dispose off 70% of smaller appeals and 30% of high demand appeals including 100% of appeals involving disputed demand of ₹ 50 crore and above.

3. Strategies for revenue maximization were discussed at length especially since the CBDT has been tasked to collect revenue of ₹ 9.80 lakh crore in the present fiscal. The officers were urged to utilize data effectively such that the target for collection of Personal Income Tax should not only be met but also be exceeded.

4. The session on taxpayer services and grievances outlined the development of tax payer services as a separate vertical. The good work done in the field of redressal of grievances was highlighted as almost 85% of grievances of CBDT have been disposed off online through the e-nivaran portal. There was emphasis on redressal of grievances for both CBDT and CBEC.

5. Strategies for widening of tax base were discussed in detail with special focus on verification of data collected during demonetization and SFT. The CBDT aims to add a sizeable number of new taxpayers in the current fiscal. It was directed that special focus be given to popularize the Operation Clean Money portal such that an environment of voluntary compliance can be created.

6. The technical sessions on GST and GSTN focused on implementation issues faced in GST. CEO of GSTN Shri Prakash Kumar presented the performance of GST portal.

7. In the CBEC session, various issues were discussed and main thrust was on “Ease of Doing Business”, Litigation Management and HR related issues. President of CESTAT addressed senior officials of CBEC and shared pragmatic thoughts on the litigation matters of CBEC. There was also a Sunshine session to highlight a formation's initiative in improving taxpayer services or individual initiative outside of the regular area of responsibility. The Refund Sms Sewa, instant feedback survey from international passengers, barcoding confiscated goods for disposal etc, the online portal of blood donors or Go Green building of NACIN Bengaluru was also showcased.

The Revenue Secretary, in his concluding remarks emphasized that Revenue was a cross sectoral subject that required in depth understanding and coordination between both departments. He encouraged the officers of both CBDT and CBEC to share best practices with each other regularly. He also underlined the importance of increasing efforts to garner revenue in light of the data that is available post demonetization. He also emphasized that the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of a faceless assessment i.e. e-assessment should be turned into a reality. He also stressed that genuine grievances of taxpayers should be disposed off on priority and taxpayers should be treated with courtesy.

(Surabhi Ahluwalia)

Commissioner of Income Tax

(Media & Technical Policy)

Official Spokesperson, CBDT

E-assessment driven reform to enable faceless tax procedures, improve transparency, and accelerate dispute resolution procedures The Sangam prioritised transformation to e-assessment and faceless procedures to boost transparency and measurable performance, directing Assessing Officers to complete work online and phase in e-assessment. It promoted data analytics and post-demonetization data to detect undeclared income, widen the tax base, and meet enhanced revenue targets. For litigation management, CBDT aims to reduce appeals and disputed demands before CIT(A) by disposing a large share of smaller appeals and a stated portion of high-demand appeals, with special attention to very large disputed demands. Administrative reforms in taxpayer services, online grievance redressal, GST implementation issues, and inter-departmental coordination were also emphasised.