Introduction
- Project Insight is an initiative of finance ministry
- The main aim of the project is to detect tax evaders with the help of technology
- The project also aims to widen the tax base
- Project Insight is likely to be implemented in this calendar year 2017 – 2018
Nodal Agency
- Finance Ministry
- Tax department
- Banks and other financial institutions
Tax Information collated by Insight
- Integration of tax data among banks, government departments and financial institutions
- Tax department to set up a new processing centre that is centralized to monitor tax payments
- The existing network of PAN based tax transactions is also used to monitor
- The project will verify and collate information received from third party, financial institutions and banks
- Insight integrates tax information received from all sources in an accurate and timely manner
Additional Features
- Compliance management systems are being developed
- Project Insight will handle all preliminary verification, follow up of information and bulk letter generation and notice generation pertaining to tax evasion
- Insight will serve as the centre for tax data exchange for various government departments
Significance
- Project Insight is yet another initiative to curb black money
- It will aid in the implementation of GST
- DTAA implementation will be made easy through Insight
- All Tax based information from the recent Income Disclosure scheme are added
- The large pool of information will be useful in data mining to track the tax evaders
- The tax base will also widen gradually
- Tax evaders will be caught in a digital manner rather than the usual method of search and seizing
Conclusion
- Insight will help in resolution of tax issues in online manner
- Voluntary compliance of tax evaders is possible in a digital manner
- Tax payers can get the advantage of paying tax online reducing the hassles and time spent visiting the tax office physically
- Insight will enhance tax collections from the corporate and industry sector
- Insight will also benefit the individual tax payers
- The tax base and tax payers will increase as a result of digital monitoring of payments
- Foreign relations of India pertaining to tax matters will improve
- Insight will be an upgraded technical infrastructure that will help in contribution of DTAA, FATCA and CRS
- Overall, Insight is a digital means to make tax payments transparent and curb black money
