August 13, 2020: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a platform to honour the honest taxpayers of the country. He said that it will be a new milestone in the structural reforms initiaited by the government.

“The ‘Transparent Taxation - Honoring the Honest’ platform will bring in faceless assessment, faceless appeal, and taxpayers’ charter. Faceless assessment & taxpayers’ charter come in force from today, whereas faceless appeal service will be available from September 25,” PM Modi said in his video conference address.

"The emphasis is on making every rule-law, policy people-centric, and public friendly. This is the use of the new governance model and the country is getting its results," he said while speaking at the launch.

The Prime Minister said that the new reform will instill a sense of fearlessness among the honest taxpayers who play an important role in national development.

"The government is now focusing on making tax-paying seamless, painless, and faceless. Faceless as it shouldn't matter who is paying tax and who is tax officer," he said.

He further added, "Taxpayers will now be given the respect they deserve. The taxpayer will now be trusted, not looked at with doubt. The tax department will have to carry out the steps and processes in a time-bound manner."

The taxpayers' charter was announced in the Union Budget for fiscal year 2020-21 by the Finance Minister.

Nirmala Sitharaman in a tweet said, "Truly, this shall mark an important step forward in providing a simple and transparent taxation regime for India".

PM Modi said that over the past six years, the government has remained focused on "banking the unbanked, securing the unsecured and funding the unfunded". "In a way, today's launch marks a new beginning in this direction," the Prime Minister said.

With the launch of this platform, the government has taken another step to make the lives of the taxpayers easier. Over the years, the income tax department has carried out several major reforms, including reduction in the corporate tax. The department had also abolished the dividend tax.

It has also been focusing on simplification of direct tax laws and increasing transparency in communication.

Similarly, to increase the ease of compliance for taxpayers, the IT department has moved forward with the profiling of income tax returns to make compliance more convenient for individual taxpayers. Compliance norms for startups have also been simplified.