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 should take actionable steps to upgrade current technology and functionality to ensure compliance automation for the submission of returns and various forms. Enhancing the pre-fill option will reduce the time involved in filing returns/forms, thereby streamlining the compliance process.

Timely Resolution of Grievances:

Grievance resolution often faces delays, with some grievances remaining unaddressed for extended periods or being closed abruptly without proper resolution. It is imperative to refurbish the grievance mechanism to ensure a quick turnaround, reducing issues faced by taxpayers significantly.

Improving Faceless Assessment:

The faceless assessment scheme, introduced for transparency in assessment proceedings, has encountered challenges such as limited compliance time for notices, restrictions on submission sizes, delays in approval for physical hearings, and ineffective video conferencing. To make this scheme more taxpayer-friendly, these issues need urgent Address.

Adjustment of Tax Refunds Against Outstanding Demands:

Many taxpayers are dealing with the issue of having their tax refunds adjusted against outstanding demands. This matter requires immediate attention to ensure taxpayers receive their rightful refunds without undue delay or complication.

Timely Disposal of Rectification Applications:

Rectification applications filed by taxpayers are often not processed within a reasonable timeframe, and similar delays are noticed in the orders implementing appellate authority decisions. Expediting the disposal of these applications and orders is essential to alleviate taxpayer concerns and enhance procedural efficiency.