Budget 2021: AI, ML and analytics to ease compliance burden and check tax evasion

The Union Budget 2021 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman threw emphasis on technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and their application to the e-Governance, GST and easing compliance burden.

During the budget presentation, Sitharaman said, “During the coming fiscal 2021-22, we will be launching data analytics, AI, ML driven MCA21 3.0. This version 3.0 will have additional modules for e-scrutiny, e-Adjudication, e-Consultation and Compliance Management.”

The e-Governance initiative of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), MCA21, was enabled with a vision to provide an easy and secure access of the MCA services.

Additionally, the government has deployed deep analytics and AI to the GST system to identify tax evaders and fake billers, stated Sitharaman.

This is a sign of a forward looking data economy, says Vivek Sharma of Lenovo Data Center Group. “There is a strong focus on Digital India be it through setting a fintech hub at GIFT city, enhancing digital payments and use of AI, ML etc in governance, or making tax appellate faceless and tech enabled – all provide a solid foundation for a forward looking data-economy,” says Sharma.

Aditya Narayan Mishra, Director and CEO of CIEL HR Services is hopeful that this will encourage deep tech startups, especially in the area of AI, ML and analytics to come up in the health, life sciences, fintech, EdTech and infrastructure sector.

“The budget has introduced favorable measures for 1-person companies and new definitions of small companies. These would help companies access capital easily and bring down their costs for compliance. This will encourage people to give shape to their ideas. We have been seeing an annual growth of 12-15% in startups. Given these new announcements, we can think of a growth of 20+% each year for the next 3 years,” Mishra says.

“With patents and innovations being at the core of our proposition as a pure-play engineering services provider, it was encouraging to know that Innovation and R&D was classified under the six pillars of focus for this year’s union budget. Unlike last year where explicit mention to initiatives such as the National Mission on Quantum Computing and Technology were announced, one would have hoped that this year’s budget would have made provision for further focus,” says Keshab Panda, CEO & MD, L&T Technology Services.