Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes

New Delhi, 24th July, 2019.

PRESS RELEASE

Income Tax Department celebrates Aaykar Diwas 2019

The Aaykar Diwas – Income Tax Day was celebrated today with great zeal and enthusiasm across India. The main function at the national level was held at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi and was graced by the Honourable Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, who was the chief guest at the function. Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs was the guest of honour. The event was also attended by senior officials of Department of Revenue including the Revenue Secretary, officers from other departments including CBI and ED Director, Settlement Commission, Chief Controller of Accounts, Chairman and Members of the Central Board of Direct Taxes and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs respectively, as also other senior officers of the Income Tax Department (ITD).

The Chairman of CBDT, Shri P.C. Mody, welcomed the Chief Guest and other dignitaries present on the occasion. He dwelt upon the technological changes in the ITD which have given it an edge in tackling tax evasion and also urged the department to work in a fair and transparent manner. The Revenue Secretary congratulated the department for becoming one of the few organizations in the world to have switched to almost cent percent e-filing in such a short time. He also lauded the new initiatives launched in the area of faceless assessment and hoped that the department would continue to use data mining and other non intrusive methods to augment revenue collection.

The Minister of State (Finance), while complimenting the department for increasing its effectiveness, also underlined the importance of mobilization of resources as an important component in the vision of New India as envisioned by Hon’ble PM. He urged the department to take steps to encourage voluntary compliance and to address grievances especially pertaining to senior citizens and specially abled persons. He also emphasized that collection of revenue should be done in a tax payer friendly manner and that the softer side of the department especially the initiatives of the department in the social sector also be highlighted.

In her address to the gathering, the Hon’ble Finance Minister spelt out her vision of an internationally competitive tax regime with a stable policy and a non-adversarial tax administration. She exhorted the officers to be prompt in redressing the grievances of the tax payers, expand the tax base in a non-intrusive manner even as they strive to achieve the revenue targets. Borrowing from Kautilya’s Arthashastra, she urged that the department should collect taxes like the Bee who sucks only that much nectar from the flower as is absolutely necessary. She emphasised the importance and need for coordinated sharing of information between the different Investigation/ Intelligence divisions of the Ministry which was critical in identification of tax evasion/ avoidance. She also congratulated the department for working towards changing the mindset of the people and continue to work to reduce the trust deficit thereby helping them to become more tax compliant. She also urged the department to make extensive use of data mining to catch the tax evaders on the one hand, while taking steps to provide better tax payer services to  facilitate the honest taxpayers as well.

The FM released a departmental publication titled “Investigation of Accounts” and also launched an in-house e-journal “Taxalogue” or Dialogue on Taxes, which is a new initiative taken by CBDT being a quarterly e-journal where one can contribute articles on issues pertaining to taxation.  The MoS(F) launched the “Publicity Kit for Outreach Programmes” developed by the department to facilitate easy availability of publicity material to field offices of the department for conducting outreach programmes for increasing tax awareness among the public. The event also included the release of departmental publication on “Transfer Pricing” by the Revenue Secretary.  A film titled “Aaykardata- Badalte Bharat ka Bhagidar” detailing the contribution of the Department towards nation building was also screened.