Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that the income tax office at Srinagar will act as a bridge to connect the people of the region to the best taxpayer services and also help them in their taxation issues through the Aaykar Sewa Kendra.

Sitharaman, who reached Srinagar today, also observed that the income tax office will provide an enabling environment for people’s participation in the development of the region.

The Income Tax Department’s new Office-cum-Residential complex, ‘The Chinars’, at Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, was inaugurated by Sitharaman in the presence of Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir Manoj Sinha.

In her interaction with tax administrators and stakeholders at SKICC, Sitharaman urged the officers of both CBDT and CBIC to be agents of change and reach out to the industry and business individuals to ascertain their expectations from the Government. While emphasising that officers of both CBDT and CBIC should work collectively, the Finance Minister also stressed the importance of their role as facilitators and educators, making themselves more accessible to the taxpayers of the region to provide better taxpayer services.

Secretary, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, Tarun Bajaj; Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), J.B. Mohapatra and Chairman Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) M. Ajit Kumar were also present on the occasion.

Manoj Sinha highlighted the importance of taxpayers in the economic development of the country and said that the Income Tax department is becoming seamless from the stage of filing returns to the issuance of refunds. Shri Sinha observed that the success of the taxpayers will lead to the greater economic development of UT of J&K. Sinha also appealed to the taxpayers to honestly pay their taxes.

Tarun Bajaj, Revenue Secretary to the Government of India, emphasised the increasing contribution of the UT of J&K to the exchequer, reflected in the up-gradation of the Income Tax charge at Srinagar to the level of Principal Commissioner of Income Tax at Srinagar.