The cost of Income Tax Collection of every INR 100 is below 10 paise : Rahul Singhania

The Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FTCCI) hosted a post-Union Budget 2024-25 analysis session at the Federation House in Red Hills on Wednesday late evening. 

Danda Srinivas, IRS, Principal Commissioner of Income Tax-4, Government of India and Rahul Singhania, IRS, Addl Commissioner of Income Tax, Rane-9, Hyderabad, the Government of India were the guests. 

He gave his broad view of the budget. It is a non-adversarial tax regime (working together cooperatively to reach the best resolution for everyone). He gave some key highlights of the budget

Today is Income Tax Day. It is our 165th Income Tax Day. This day commemorates the historical evolution of tax administration in India and the ongoing reforms that aim to enhance tax compliance and simplify the process for taxpayers. On this day, Income tax was first levied as a duty in India in 1860. The vision of the Income Tax Department (ITD) is to be a partner in the nation-building process through progressive tax policy, and efficient and effective tax, he said.

Over so many years of tedious income tax filing, we have transformed into simplified and faceless filing.  The key thing here is a simplification of everything.  The days of coercive tax collection are over.  It is mostly voluntary filing and compliance. He said That the cost of tax collection has fallen over the years. He has asked people to file returns correctly.

His colleague Rahul Singhania, Addl Commissioner of Income Tax spoke about issues, challenges and suggestions raised by FTCCI. He responded very favourably.

Elaborating further on what his colleague said about the cost of tax collection coming down throughout, Rahul Singhania said now the tax cost of Income Tax collection has come down to less than ten paise. The Income Tax Collection Cost in India is the lowest in the world.  The Income Tax Department spends just less than 10 paise on collecting every INR 100 Tax Collected, he said

The Gross collection of Direct Taxes for the Financial Year 2023-24 stands approximately at Rs. 22,27,067 crore. 

Over the years the collection of tax has gone up many folds.  Voluntary disclosures, Faceless Filing, Ease of Filing etc and many added to the increased collection of the taxes.  But the cost of collection of the tax has not gone up, he added.

The objective of Post Union Budget Analysis was to guide manufacturers, service providers, professional exporters, importers, entrepreneurs and others from trade, commerce and industry on the key aspects of the policy initiatives and the Direct and Indirect Tax proposals in the budget, and economic perspective on the budget as well said Suresh Kumar Singhal, President of FTCCI.

CA Sudhir, Chairman Direct Taxes Committee said  the budget presented yesterday focused on strengthening the abilities of all Indians to seize opportunities in the journey towards a 'Viksit Bharat'

Irshad Ahmed, Chairman of GST  & Customs Committee of FTCCI said the tax incidence on the common man has come down.  But the compliance burden has gone up.  And it is increasing.  And it is hard for small business people.  The departments are sending notices.  We expected that the standard 18% of GST may come down, but that has not happened.  The GST on petrol has been a contentious issue since the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) law in India. Certain developments in the recent past have led us to believe that the GST Council may decide to charge GST on petrol and petroleum products, diesel and electricity, he said

Smt Venu Madhavi Muppala, Partner at Ernst & Young LLP, Amit Kumar Fitkariwal, Partner at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd and Smt Pallavi Paul, Technical Director at BSR & Co. LLP spoke on various aspects of the budget in detail. Their sessions were more of technical sessions.