Sudhir Chandra, new chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes says he wants work like a corporate boss, with a human touch towards subordinates and those paying taxes properly. Having handled all high-profile tax investigations in recent times, he also promises strict action against evaders. In an interaction with Santosh Tiwari and Vrishti Beniwal, he spoke about his plans for the income tax department. Edited excerpts:
What would be your top priority as CBDT chairman?
I will try to bring in as much transparency as possible in the functioning of the income tax department. Honest tax payers will be respected because when an honest taxpayer is targeted, he gets hurt. The idea is to focus more and more on voluntary compliance. With computerisation, we have now more connectivity. The distance between the taxpayers and taxmen has got reduced considerably and this will certainly help in enhancing voluntary compliance.
As member, investigation, you handled quite a few high-profile cases in the department last year. How do you plan to handle tax evaders now?
We would be very firm. If firmness will not pay, harshness will follow. We will not be sparing anybody if there is clinching evidence of tax evasion. Nobody is above law. In the past two years, we detected concealment of more than Rs 15,000 crore and will continue this exercise.
The Election Commission has written to you, providing details of political parties and their donors for looking at the tax evasion angle. What are you doing on this front?
Over 90 per cent of the allegations made are wild ones. We can act only when we have clinching evidence. Yes, we have received some communication in this regard from EC. We have not yet taken a view on this, we are looking at it and once we take a view, it will be known.
Direct tax collections are growing at a rapid pace in recent years and this year it is expected that the target of collecting Rs 4,30,000 crore would be met. What is your projection in this regard?
We will certainly surpass the budget target and the current trend indicates that direct tax collections in 2010-11 would be around Rs 4,50,000 crore. The contribution of direct taxes to GDP is very high and the trend is likely to continue.
What are your plans to handle such growth in tax collection and also improve tax administration?
We need over 8,000 people in all cadres. We are currently in an advanced stage of cadre restructuring. Our sanctioned strength is 58,000 and we are seeking a manpower addition of 22,000 over this. This will help us improve functioning of the department and also boost tax ollection.
What steps are you taking to bring back black money stashed abroad?
We are in negotiations with 22 jurisdictions for signing Tax Information Exchange Agreements. One agreement has been concluded and three are in advanced stages.
What is the update on treaty negotiation with Switzerland?
The agreement has to be ratified by the Swiss government. One part of the ratification is over and now it has to be laid before their Parliament. So, it is a matter of a few months and then we can seek information from them.