Modi calls for 10 crore people to be drawn into tax net

New Delhi:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called for 10 crore people to be brought into the tax net, up from the current 5.3 crore, in a bid to expand the revenue base. "There are a total of 25 crore households in the country, out of which 10 crore have non-agricultural income. The Prime Minister, in his address, called for the expansion of the tax net to 10 crore people," said Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia. Adhia, however, did not give any timeline to reach the 10 crore tax payers base. The Prime Minister also asked the taxmen to remove the fear of harassment from the minds of people and advocated what he termed as RAPID -- revenue, accountability, probity, information and digitisation. "The Prime Minister gave the RAPID formula, which he said are the five pillars of tax administration," Minister of State Jayant Sinha told reporters. The Prime Minister also called for bridging the trust deficit between the taxpayer and tax department, he said. Sinha and Adhia were briefing the media after an address by Modi at the two-day Rajasva Gyan Sangam - Annual Conference of Tax Administrators 2016 of top officials with the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). The conference will prepare a roadmap for tax officials for the current fiscal. The revenue secretary said that Modi heard various suggestions from officials of CBDT and CBEC. The officials suggested formulation of a tax facilitation act and also conveyed their dilemma between tax enforcement and tax friendly measures, he said. Sinha however clarified that the tax officials should not see any trade-off between the two. In his address, the Prime Minister also emphasised on the CBDT and CBEC moving towards digitisation. "Out of the total returns, 90 per cent returns are filed through e-filing. And out of that 67 per cent income tax returns happen via the online route," Sinha said.