Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: When Pratap Singh joined the Indian Revenue Service in 1991, the Income Tax Department was almost entirely manual. Today, under his leadership, it is among the world’s most digitised and citizen-friendly tax administrations.
Singh’s role in building the Centralized Processing Centre (CPC) at Bengaluru set new global standards. Returns that once took months to process are now cleared in just 16 days on average – sometimes on the same day. Taxpayers today enjoy seamless access to online platforms for filing, payments, refunds, grievance redressal, and faceless appeals.
The introduction of prefilled tax returns has cut compliance burdens, while the e-Verification portal and Updated Return scheme reduced disputes and litigation. Singh also championed the faceless assessment system. On the global stage, Singh positioned India as a key architect of tax diplomacy. His inputs to BEPS reforms and the global minimum tax helped India move from a ‘ruletaker’ to a ‘rule-maker’. By combining advanced analytics, AI/ML-driven compliance, and a taxpayer-first ethos, Singh transformed the department into a trust-based institution. This digital revolution has not only boosted collections and widened the tax base but also strengthened India’s reputation as a reform-driven, innovation-led economy.
