Don’t Make Taxpayers Run from Pillar to Post: Sitharaman to I-T Officials

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday called on the Income Tax department to work in a manner that benefits ordinary citizens and stops them from being made to run from pillar to post.

Inaugurating Aaykar Sindhu, a 13-floor, 1.13-lakh-square-foot building in Mumbai’s Nariman Point, Sitharaman used the occasion to highlight the difficulties even senior officials face when dealing with other government agencies. She noted that the land for the building had been with the Income Tax department since 1973, yet illegal occupations had still come up on it. This, she said, reflected a laid-back approach in governance where assets are not properly protected.

Drawing from the experience of obtaining clearances for the new building, the minister told IRS officers that despite the authority the department’s name carries, they themselves had to struggle for permissions. She asked them to use that experience to understand what a common citizen goes through when approaching the tax department. “Don’t make them run from pillar to post where your authority is required; do the work for them,” she said.

Sitharaman clarified that she was not asking officials to break rules or act outside the law. She simply observed that citizens in the country often have to expend enormous effort to secure even their rightful claims.

The minister also said she would examine the issue of many Income Tax officials in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai not being able to stay in official accommodation and having to travel long distances to work. On future land requirements, she preferred government-to-government transfers and promised to facilitate quick clearances, while leaving the detailed work of permissions, CPWD coordination, contracts and tenders to the department. She specifically mentioned land belonging to BSNL and said she would speak to the concerned minister.

Looking ahead, Sitharaman urged the department to complete necessary arrangements quickly so that the tax administration does not enter the second half of the 21st century with scattered offices and high rental costs in a rapidly growing city.

Throughout her remarks she repeatedly underlined the importance of integrity. “Integrity is the one and only principle I will advocate to each one of you,” she told the officials.