Budget 2024 Outlook: Live Updates: Will Nirmala Sitharaman Bring Major Changes In Tax Slabs?

Budget 2024 Expectations Live Updates: Things That Will Make Life Easier for Income Tax Payers

Harsh Bhuta, Partner at Bhuta Shah & Co LLP, recommended the following measures for income tax payers:

Upgrade in technology:

The government needs to take action to upgrade the current technology and functionality to ensure compliance automation for filing of returns and various forms. Improving the pre-fill option will reduce the time taken for filing of returns/forms, thereby streamlining the compliance process.

Timely resolution of complaints:

The resolution of complaints is often delayed, with some complaints remaining unaddressed for a long time or being abruptly closed without proper resolution. It is essential to revamp the complaint mechanism to ensure a quick turnaround time, thereby significantly reducing the problems faced by taxpayers.

Improving faceless assessment:

The faceless assessment scheme, which was introduced for transparency in assessment proceedings, has faced challenges such as limited compliance time for notices, limitations on filing sizes, delays in approval for physical hearings and ineffective video conferencing. To make this scheme more taxpayer-friendly, these issues need to be addressed urgently.

Adjustment of tax refunds to outstanding receivables:

Many taxpayers are faced with the problem of having their tax refunds offset against outstanding debts. This issue requires immediate attention to ensure that taxpayers receive their rightful refunds without unnecessary delay or complications.

Timely handling of rectification requests:

Applications for rectification filed by taxpayers are often not processed within a reasonable time and similar delays are noted in the orders implementing decisions of appellate bodies. Expediting the processing of these applications and orders is essential to address taxpayers’ concerns and improve procedural efficiency.