During the financial year 2025, the central government has carried out reforms like rate rationalisation and simplification in Income Tax and Goods and Services Tax (GST) to boost consumption by putting more cash in the hands of the common man.
Major reforms in the taxation system: This is very good news for the citizens. The central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is preparing to implement major reforms in the Indian tax system. Following the GST reforms, the government is planning to make the customs system more transparent and simpler. Recently, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that customs needs a complete overhaul to ensure that individuals and businesses do not find the process cumbersome.
What did Sitharaman say about the new changes?
In a recent major announcement, she stated that the successful changes made in the income tax system (transparency, faceless assessment, and improved administration) should now be implemented in customs as well. She stated that the focus is on reducing government interference, expediting goods clearance, and eliminating arbitrariness through the use of technology.
What’s next after GST reforms?
During the financial year 2025, the central government implemented reforms such as rationalizing and simplifying the income tax and Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates to boost consumption by putting more cash in the hands of the common man.
Sitharaman stated at the HT Leadership Summit that customs needs a complete overhaul. “We need to simplify it so that people don’t feel it’s difficult to comply with it,” she said, adding that it needs to be more transparent. She stated that the strengths of income tax in terms of transparency need to be brought to the customs side and that the proposed reforms will be comprehensive and include rationalizing customs duty rates. Announcements in this regard are expected to be made in the upcoming budget, likely to be presented on February 1st.
