Seeking to improve its image as a customer friendly organisation, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has decided to set up a dedicated wing to have a better connect with taxpayers. The CBEC is celebrating 2015 as the Year of Taxpayer Services in “recognition of the need to have ‘customer focus’ in our day-to-day functioning”. To meet the objective, the Board has decided to set up a “Directorate of Taxpayer Services” in pursuance of the recommendations of the Tax Administration Reforms Commission (TARC), headed by Parthasarathi Shome, said CBE. It has already set up a committee to work out the modalities, including mandate, organisational structure and responsibilities of the new directorate.
CBEC is responsible for collection of indirect taxes -- Customs duty, excise and service tax. The target for Customs duty and excise collection for the current fiscal is Rs2.08 lakh crore and Rs2.29 lakh crore, respectively, while the corresponding figure for service tax stands at Rs2.09 lakh crore. The collection of indirect taxes in 2014-15 had surpassed the target of Rs5.46 lakh crore by Rs4,000 crore. TARC, in its first report submitted to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, had stressed on ‘customer focus’ and recommended creation of the Directorate for Taxpayers.