New Delhi: The government’s next major push will be to overhaul the customs duty system — much like it reformed the income-tax regime, said Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Finance Minister, during her address at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit (HTLS 2025) on December 6, 2025.

Sitharaman recalled how the income-tax regime was once widely dreaded — often labelled “tax terrorism” due to burdensome administration and harassment — and highlighted the success of the shift toward a “faceless”, online income-tax system that made tax compliance easier.

She said the same virtues of simplicity, transparency and taxpayer-friendliness need to be extended to customs. “Now the same virtues will have to be brought to customs,” she said. ADVERTISEMENT

The minister acknowledged that smuggling and i

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