In a bid to improve the country’s tax administration, the Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC) Chairman Parthasarathi Shome has asserted that TARC’s proposed reforms will be mainly focused on expansion of tax and taxpayers’ base. Tax administration has to be cost effective and efficient and TARC’s recommendations will help to correct anomalies and approaches of a system that increases compliance. The TARC chairman further added that the commission has been studying the existing organisational structure and systemic processes to enhance tax administration’s capacity and skill base so that it can handle increasing tax base with greater efficiency, swiftness and lesser disputes.
The commission has planned to provide its recommendations through five reports and the first report will be submitted to the Government in May. Referring to TARC’s first report, Parthasarathi Shome asserted that first report would suggest various changes such as strengthening of workforce, capacity building, use of information technology, fixing of responsibility and accountability to bring down compliance cost and improve administration’s productivity. The TARC in its first report would also recommend measures for minimising disputes, simplified and timely disbursal of duty drawback, export incentives, improving services and taxpayers’ education programme.
The TARC Chairman further added that in next four more reports after the first, the commission would recommend steps to improve cross border information exchange and functional measures to enhance information sharing among the enforcement agencies. Furthermore, it would also provide analytical tools to prevent tax and economic offences.