Income Tax Day 2023: Why is July 24 Celebrated As Aaykar Diwas? Date, History and Significance

INCOME TAX DAY 2023 – 24th July has been officially adopted as Income Tax Day or Aaykar Diwas to commemorate 150 years of income tax in India. The day is celebrated with a series of outreach programs and events designed to promote tax payment and educate future taxpayers about the importance of paying taxes. We, as citizens, can help our country prosper by paying our taxes on time. The New Delhi-based Department of Income Tax is in charge of direct tax collection for the Government of India. It falls under the Revenue Department of the Ministry of Finance and is overseen by a main body known as the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

Income Tax Day 2023: Why It Is Celebrated On July 24?

Sir James Wilson implemented the Income Tax in India on 24 July 1860. The scheme was introduced to compensate the British regime for losses suffered during the Revolt of 1857. The practice lasted for years before an official structure or department was established to co-ordinate tax collection in 1922. In addition, the Income Tax Act 1922 introduced distinct nomenclature for the various Income Tax administrations.

Later, the law was amended in 1939 and two important structural modifications were made. Appeal functions were separated from administrative functions, and a central position was introduced in Mumbai (then Bombay).

In 2010, the Ministry of Finance declared July 24 as Income Tax Day to commemorate the establishment of this tax. “Since Income Tax was first imposed as a tax in the year 1860 and the authority to impose that tax came into effect on July 24 of that year, it is proposed to celebrate this day as Income Tax Investiture Day,” a Finance Ministry official said of the celebrations in 2010, according to a PTI report. The festivities were opened by former Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Income Tax Day 2023: Celebrations

Various activities are carried out by the regional tax offices in the week prior to the event. Dissemination programs are carried out throughout the country to promote the payment of taxes as a norm of value and to inform potential taxpayers that paying taxes is an ethical duty of people.