Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

Tax system should be efficient and user-friendly : PM

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has said that the tax system should be efficient, equitable and user-friendly so that there was minimum scope for harassment to the honest taxpayer. Speaking to the 55th batch of IRS probationers of the Customs and Central Excise, who called on him today, the Prime Minister said that the role of an efficient public administration was to ensure that the processes of wealth creation and tax collection were as orderly and smooth as possible. He said that the effort of the tax administration should be such that the taxpayers could calculate their tax liability with reasonable confidence. There should be little scope of harassment and arbitrary use of discretionary powers, though discretionary powers in the hands of the Tax Officers could not be wished away in the complicated world, we live. He added.