Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the honest taxpayers in the country must be recognised for their contribution.

Sitharaman praised the income tax department for their work and efforts in simplifying the procedural issues related to tax. On the 161st anniversary of the Income Tax Day, the minister complimented the department making the system fair and transparent.

"The minister observed that the honest taxpayers deserve to be recognized for the contribution they are making to the progress of the nation by dutifully paying their due share of taxes,” an official statement said.

She also commended the taxpayers for discharging their compliance obligations despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic.

Also read: ADB lowers India's growth projection to 10% this year from earlier 11%

According to news agency PTI, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary observed that most of the processes and compliance requirements have been shifted to online platforms and the need for taxpayers to physically visit tax offices has been eliminated or minimized.

Meanwhile, Sitharaman has thrashed out a Rs 6.29 lakh crote stimulus package to boost the country’s economy, which took a hit due to the Covid 19 induced lockdown.

Recently, the Asian Development Bank in its estimated pegged India’s growth rate for the current financial year at 1o per cent, down from the earlier 11 per cent.

ADB said that while recovery is underway in developing Asia, growth projection is revised down slightly from 7.3 per cent in April to 7.2 per cent for 2021 following renewed virus outbreaks in some economies.