A high-powered committee on DRISHTI (Driving Information System for Holistic Tax Initiatives) has urged the Government to use information technology in a big way to improve the quality and extent of taxpayer services, encourage voluntary tax compliance and detect tax evasion.
The committee, set up under the chairmanship of TV Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Global Education, submitted its report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday.
The report suggested the creation of a National Taxpayer Services Directorate, National Assessment Centre for Customs & National Processing Centre for Central Excise & Service Tax Returns and National Targeting Centre and Directorate of International Customs. It also advised setting up of specialised function-based units for data analytics and business intelligence, tax dispute resolution and litigation, etc.
The committee has pitched for leveraging a service-oriented architecture for IT applications besides merging different customs IT applications into a single system. It recommended enabling mobility solutions in business workflows, introduction of entity-based risk management system and an IT-centric human resources policy.
It also examined suitable options for an appropriate IT Governance model for CBEC (Central Board of Excise and Custom). The recommendations have been classified into short (up to two years), medium (two to four years) and long term (four to six years).