Transparent taxation-panacea for tax terrorism?

The Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) was amended in 2019 to introduce the concept of faceless assessment and in 2020 to provide for statutory recognition of a tax-payers charter and to provide for an enabling provision for faceless appeals. The Hon’ble Prime Minister launched the ‘Transparent Taxation-Honouring the Honest’ platform on 13th August 2020 covering the aforesaid aspects. A transparent taxation regime is a pre-requisite for growth in every country and it assumes much more importance in a country like ours where the phrase ‘tax terrorism’ got coined for our tax administration.