<p>As India scrambles to shore up revenues in the virus-ravaged economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asked people with taxable income but outside the tax net to come forward to pay taxes on their own.</p>.<p>A minuscule 1.15% of India’s 130 crore people pay income tax, with a bulk of it coming from the salaried class. </p>.<p>“Why only 1.5 crore people pay income tax? I would urge you to introspect and come forward to pay taxes to build a self-reliant India,” Modi said.</p>.<p>He also unveiled a taxpayers’ charter and faceless assessment of tax, terming them structural reforms. The charter seeks to treat taxpayers as honest unless evidence proves otherwise, while faceless assessment reduces contact between the taxpayer and the tax officer during scrutiny or notice.</p>.<p>However, the biggest direct tax reform — the proposed Direct Taxes Code (DTC), which seeks to make life easier for the common man — remains elusive. The recommendations made by an expert panel last year have still not been made public.</p>.<p>Sources in the know say the recommendations are too radical to be implemented entirely.</p>
<p>As India scrambles to shore up revenues in the virus-ravaged economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asked people with taxable income but outside the tax net to come forward to pay taxes on their own.</p>.<p>A minuscule 1.15% of India’s 130 crore people pay income tax, with a bulk of it coming from the salaried class. </p>.<p>“Why only 1.5 crore people pay income tax? I would urge you to introspect and come forward to pay taxes to build a self-reliant India,” Modi said.</p>.<p>He also unveiled a taxpayers’ charter and faceless assessment of tax, terming them structural reforms. The charter seeks to treat taxpayers as honest unless evidence proves otherwise, while faceless assessment reduces contact between the taxpayer and the tax officer during scrutiny or notice.</p>.<p>However, the biggest direct tax reform — the proposed Direct Taxes Code (DTC), which seeks to make life easier for the common man — remains elusive. The recommendations made by an expert panel last year have still not been made public.</p>.<p>Sources in the know say the recommendations are too radical to be implemented entirely.</p>
