Cabinet approves abolition of institution of income tax and direct tax ombudsman

New Delhi [India], Feb 6 (ANI): The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for the abolition of Institution of Income-Tax Ombudsman and Indirect Tax Ombudsman.
A decision to this effect was taken at the Cabinet meeting held here on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The decision comes in the wake of alternative complaint redressal mechanisms chosen by the public. The institution of Ombudsman could not prove to be more effective than regular existing parallel channels of grievance redressal.
"Keeping this in sight, both the institutions of the income-tax ombudsman as well as indirect tax ombudsman have been abolished," said the government in a statement.
The Institution of Income-Tax Ombudsman was created in 2003 to deal with grievances of public related to the settlement of complaints relating to income tax. However, the Institution of Ombudsman had failed to achieve its objectives.
It was observed that institution of new complaints has in turn fallen to single digits. Also, taxpayers started preferring alternate methods of grievance redressal like CPGRAMS (Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System), Aaykar Seva Kendras, and so on. Further, it was also decided in 2011 to close the vacant offices of Indirect Tax Ombudsman. (ANI)