The government is working to build a relationship of trust with taxpayers and will further expand faceless tax administration while simplifying tax laws, Revenue Secretary Arvind Shrivastava said on Friday.Speaking at an event, Shrivastava said a strong precedent had been established for implementing tax legislation through stakeholder consultations, underscoring the government’s emphasis on collaborative policymaking.
“For honest taxpayers, the Income Tax Department should be a facilitator,” he said, adding that the focus should increasingly be on the quality of work rather than the quantity of actions taken.
Shrivastava said the tax administration had made progress in improving taxpayer services. For Assessment Year 2026, more than 7.3 crore income tax returns have been filed so far, while gross tax collections have grown by 4-5%, he said.He also highlighted improvements in grievance redressal, saying the average time taken to resolve taxpayer grievances had been reduced to 28 days from 57 days earlier.The Revenue Secretary said the government was also focusing on reducing and simplifying tax legislation to make compliance easier.Looking ahead, he said the tax administration would continue to deepen and widen the use of faceless systems, while building institutional capacity to remain future-ready amid changing technologies and taxpayer expectations.”We need to be discerning and willing,” Shrivastava said, stressing the need for a modern tax administration that balances enforcement with taxpayer facilitation.
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