People shouldn’t fear tax administrators: PM Modi

New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the people should not fear tax administrators, adding that there should be respect for the rule of law among all citizens as well as fear of the long arm of the law for those who evade taxes.

“India is today at a unique stage in its history and the high aspirations of its people need to be nurtured by the government so that they translate into the nation’s development,” Prime Minister Modi said while addressing the tax administrators at the ‘Rajasva Gyan Sangam’.

The Prime Minister began his address by inviting suggestions from the officers.

Some of the officers expressed their views on diverse subjects such as digitization, voluntary tax compliance, facilitation for taxpayers, increasing the tax base, upgradation of digital and physical infrastructure for tax administrators etc.

He encouraged the officers for a free and frank exchange of ideas during the ‘Rajasva Gyan Sangam’.

Prime Minister Modi stressed on the need for tax administrators to engender trust in the system.

Citing the example of the “Give it up” initiative for voluntarily giving up gas subsidy, he said, “The tax base too could be increased significantly provided the tax administrators can demonstrate the leadership to bring about a change.”

The Prime Minister outlined a five-point charter for tax administrators – RAPID: R for Revenue, A for Accountability, P for Probity, I for Information and D for Digitization.

He urged the officers to turn the ‘Gyan Sangam’ into a ‘Karma Sangam’ so that the ideas generated from this conference lead to concrete action on the ground.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Nripendra Misra, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia and the chairmen of CBDT and CBEC were present on the occasion.

This is the first time that the two revenue boards – the Central Board of Direct Taxes ( CBDT) and the Central Board of Excise and Customs ( CBEC) are holding a simultaneous conference. (ANI)