Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes
New Delhi, 24th July, 2017.
PRESS RELEASE
Income Tax Department celebrates Aaykar Diwas 2017
The Aaykar Diwas – Income Tax Day was celebrated today across India. The main function at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi was graced by the Honourable Finance Minister of India, Shri Arun Jaitley. Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, the Minister of State for Finance (Revenue), senior officials of Revenue Department including the Revenue Secretary, Chairman and Members of the Central Board of Direct Taxes and senior officers of the Income Tax Department (ITD) attended the event.
The Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax – Delhi, welcomed the Chief Guest, Dignitaries and the officers of ITD to the event. While the Chairman, CBDT, dwelt upon the technological changes in the ITD in the recent future which have given it an edge in tackling tax evasion, the Revenue Secretary congratulated the department for new initiatives launched to tackle black money menace including the IDS 2016 and for steps taken to augment revenue collection. The Minister of State (Rev.) congratulated the department for increasing its effectiveness while simultaneously ensuring that no grievances arise on the part of taxpayers in doing so.
In his address to the gathering, the Finance Minister spelt out his vision of an internationally competitive tax regime with a stable policy and a non-adversarial tax administration. He exhorted the officers to be prompt in redressing the grievances of the tax payers, expand the tax base in a non-intrusive manner even as they strive to achieve the revenue generation targets. He said that taxes are the backbone of any economy. He congratulated them for working towards changing the mindset of the people and helping them become more tax compliant. He also spoke about the various steps taken by the government to widen the tax base, eliminate corruption and incentivise the honest taxpayers.
The FM released a coffee table book “The Journey So Far”. The book traces the 157 year history of the ITD and its metamorphosis into a modern department which uses state of the art techniques for efficient delivery of taxpayer services while simultaneously generating a significant portion of the tax revenue of the Government of India. He also gave away the Finance Minister’s awards for Excellence to 22 officers of various ranks in the ITD. A film titled “In the Service of the Nation” detailing the contribution of the Department towards nation building was also screened.
(Meenakshi J Goswami)
Commissioner of Income Tax
(Media & Technical Policy)
Official Spokesperson, CBDT.
