Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman Friday asked tax officials not to opt for a “hard approach” at an early stage with taxpayers and instead communicate and explain tax liabilities to them.
She told the officials to prioritise solving problems at the stage where they are mere doubts, rather than allowing them to develop into full-blown grievances.
Speaking at the inauguration of a new goods and services tax office building in Udaipur, Rajasthan, Sitharaman said officials’ focus should be on grievance redressal while handling tax-related issues.
Her comments come amid growing concerns in the industry about a recent spate of tax demands issued by GST authorities. GST is jointly administered by state and central tax officials.
“Before addressing a grievance, if we spend time through outreach to clear the doubts and suspicions in their minds; those doubts won’t escalate into grievances,” Sitharaman said, highlighting the significance of effective information sharing.
The minister said officials could prevent potential issues from turning into grievances by engaging in sector-wise outreach and addressing any doubts that arise.
“I request that before grievances arise, we should definitely carry out outreach sector by sector. If there are any doubts in their minds after this and some changes need to be made accordingly, we can make those changes as well. So, more than anything else, we need to focus on information sharing,” she said.
The minister said tax officials should be more communicative and responsive in their approach to form a better relationship between the government and the business community.
