Expert Panel on Holistic Tax Initiatives submits DRISHTI Report to FM
By TIOL News Service
NEW DELHI, OCT 21, 2014: THE Expert Committee today submitted its Report on 'DRISHTI' (Driving Information System for Holistic Tax Initiatives) to the Finance Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley. The Report, after examining the existing business processes and the current status of IT Systems in CBEC, has highlighted the areas for improvement. The recommendations of the Committee aim at leveraging IT for improving the quality and extent of taxpayer services, encouraging voluntary tax compliance and detecting tax evasion.
The Centre had constituted a High Powered Committee (HPC) on “DRISHTI” in February 2014. The Committee was headed by Mr T.V. Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Global Education and consisting of eminent persons from the private sector having in depth domain knowledge as well as senior officers from the Department of Revenue.
The Strategic Recommendations of the Committee include the following:
1. Creation of National Taxpayer Services Directorate, National Assessment Centre for Customs & National Processing Centre for Central Excise & Service Tax Returns, National Targeting Centre & Directorate of International Customs
2. Setting up of specialised function-based units for Data Analytics & Business Intelligence, Tax Dispute Resolution and Litigation, BPR, etc
3. Leveraging Service Oriented Architecture for IT Applications
4. Merging different Customs IT Applications into a Single System
5. Enabling Mobility solutions in Business Workflows
6. Introduction of Entity-based Risk Management System
7. Introduction of IT Centric HR Policy
The Committee also examined the suitable options for an appropriate IT Governance Model for CBEC. The recommendations have been classified as Short (upto 2 years), Medium (2 to 4 years) and Long Term (4 to 6 years). The Committee has also suggested steps for overseeing the implementation of the above Recommendations.
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