SME Times News Bureau | 05 Feb, 2020
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairperson P.C. Mody on Tuesday
said that the unorganised sector is ought to be under the tax framework.
At a conference organised by FICCI here, the CBDT chief said that having a
broader tax base would result in lower tax rates across the board.
To a query regarding taxing rich farmers, Mody responded by saying: "There
is an equal portion in the unorganised sector (as compared to agriculture)
which is going untaxed and they ought to be in the tax framework."
"More broader the case, the better case there would be for more tweaking of
the income tax rates also," he added.
Mody said that those in the unorganised sector can be motivated to come under
the taxation framework, if they are assured that they would not have to face
harassment and the taxpayers should be provided with information so that
accuracy of return filing will improve.
Regarding the new optional income tax regime announced in the budget, the CBDT
Chairman said that young people are likely to prefer the new regime.
Informing the that the contents of the proposed income charter will soon be
released, he said that the stated policy of the government is to do away with
exemptions and deductions of course in a phased manner.
Among several proposals on the direct taxation front, Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman, while presenting the Union Budget 2020-21, proposed a tax payers'
charter in the Income Tax Act to ensure fairness to all assessees and to make
sure that officials in their quest to collect taxes do not end up harassing
citizens.
She also announced a new tax regime with lower tax rates, but at the cost of
exemptions and deductions. A taxpayer opting for the lower tax regime would
have to forgo all the deductions and exemptions availed by him in the old
regime.