Sitharaman urges tax officials to prevent doubts from escalating into grievances

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday urged officers of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) to proactively address doubts and concerns raised by the public and business community regarding taxes before they escalate into grievances.

Speaking at the inauguration of the new GST Bhawan in Udaipur, Rajasthan, Sitharaman emphasised the importance of a preventive approach in handling tax-related issues.

She highlighted that government officials should prioritise solving problems at the stage where they are mere doubts, rather than allowing them to develop into full-blown grievances.

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"Before addressing a grievance, if we spend time through outreach to clear the doubts and suspicions in their minds, those doubts won't escalate into grievances," said Finance Minister Sitharaman.

Sitharaman also highlighted the significance of effective information sharing in this process. She suggested that by engaging in sector-wise outreach and addressing any doubts that arise, officials could prevent potential issues from turning into grievances.

"I request that before grievances arise, we should definitely carry out outreach sector by sector. If there are any doubts in their minds after this and some changes need to be made accordingly, we can make those changes as well. So, more than anything else, we need to focus on information sharing," added Sithraman.

The Finance Minister's remarks emphasised a shift towards a more communicative and responsive approach in tax administration, aiming to foster better relationships between the government and the business community while minimising conflicts and misunderstandings.

Union Minister Sitharaman is on a two-day visit to Udaipur, On Thursday the minister chaired a meeting to review the performance of nine regional rural banks (RRBs) of the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

The minister asked regional rural banks (RRBs) to ensure easy credit to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). She asked the RRBs to become more customer-friendly and leverage their local connections to further improve performance.

"All RRBs have devised customised MSME products aligning with cluster activities. However, they need to regularly review their credit portfolio in that segment", she said.

She also highlighted that Sponsor Banks and RRBs must recognise the challenges that lie ahead, especially maintaining asset quality, expanding digital services, and ensuring robust corporate governance are the areas that require continued focus.