The tax authorities are always ready to address grievances but, at the same time, the plethora of artificial intelligence-driven data and faceless assessment systems make it incumbent upon them to act against unscrupulous elements to ensure that genuine tax payers’ faith in the system isn’t shaken, she told the audience of industry leaders and top officials in Mumbai.
The minister was responding to a query on the rise in tax notices in recent years.
“I am not saying that there can’t be (a few cases of) harassment here and there. But today, when you’re looking at deep data on AI-driven, faceless assessment systems, I can’t see how the CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) or the CBIC (Central Board for indirect Taxes) can remain mute spectators… when data is showing brazen misuse of (law) by some sections,” Sitharaman said. “It’s only natural that you should go after them and I’m glad if they’re going after the (wrongdoers) efficiently.”
The minister said private investment is turning the corner and would have gained further traction but for the twin blows of the pandemic and the Ukraine war. The government had slashed the corporate tax rate substantially in September 2019 to 15% for new manufacturing units but the pandemic broke out in early 2020 and the Ukraine war followed.
The minister ruled out meaningful “contagion risk” for India from the banking crisis in the US but cautioned about potential risk to exports if the big markets are hit by a recession. In that case, demand in those economies is going to fall and India’s exports are going to suffer.
“So that risk is definitely there. But I would think that the contagion risk, usually linked to the conduct of the central banks, is not there for us to face,” she said.The minister said it’s for the Reserve Bank of India to decide on the next course of interest rate action, as it’s “getting the sense from the ground.”
She asserted that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code remains “robust” but acknowledged delays in filing vacancies at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) is impacting the resolution process. “The layers of decision making involved in it only to track the right people, so that they are transparent in their operations and decision making, is taking a lot of time,” she said.