A Simpler Tax Code For A New Era

The government is attempting to declutter six decades of amendments and jargon to create a tax code that ordinary citizens can grasp.

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The simplification of the law should be easier, meaning taxpayers and professionals can find relevant rules without flipping through as many pages or cross-references.

Schemes for Efficiency: The new Bill empowers the government to introduce schemes to improve tax administration efficiency, transparency, and accountability. This builds on the existing "faceless" and electronic systems by allowing further innovations. For example, the law explicitly allows the government to roll out new technology-driven processes (with Parliament's oversight) to eliminate in-person interactions and optimize resources. In practice, this could mean more advanced e-filing systems or AI-assisted compliance tools in the future, all under a legal framework.

While mostly a carry-forward, the Bill does introduce a few notable updates to address emerging areas and plug gaps:

Virtual Digital Assets Acknowledged: The definition of "undisclosed income" in tax raids is expanded to include crypto assets and digital assets. Under the 1961 Act, if tax officials found unaccounted cash, gold, or jewelry in a search, it could be deemed undisclosed income. Now, cryptocurrencies and digital tokens are explicitly on that list. This recognizes the reality of modern investments - if you're hiding gains in Bitcoin, the taxman has a legal basis to count it as unaccounted wealth.