Jun 07, 2006 07:33 PM
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Who is ‘Sal’man? The movie buffs might assume it is the shirt dropping Salman Khan, the politically tempered might think it is Salman Khurshid, while the religiously outraged might stumble on the name Salman Rushdie. No, and again no! The name doesn’t belong to an actor, or a politician, or even a writer, it doesn’t belong to the famous or the infamous. The name represents smaller than life but mostly honest people who pay their taxes without too much grumbling. ‘Sal’man (salaried man) represents the much-harassed salaried class of taxpayers.
P Chidambaram a suave, smooth talking man loves to hate the salaried class and hates to love the poor pensioners which when you add up ultimately means he has no concern for both.
In the middle of its term the Congress government is firmly entrenched in office and it’s time for them to tighten screws. It’s the opportune time for any government, though, as the end years in office are used for appeasing the electorate with an eye on the polls.
We have witnessed how the Reservation imbroglio has taken an ugly turn, we have also seen how the government has tackled the fuel problem in the most un-imaginary way by adopting the easy way out and one doesn’t need great intelligence to grasp why fuel prices were raised by almost 10% and there’s more where it came from.
The Congress spokesperson keeps reminding us time and again as to how dedicated the government is towards the common man "Congress ke haath aam aadmi ke saath." Yes, but those hands rise only to strike with impunity at the most helpless sections of the society. The salaried class is the most harassed section in our country. Though they pay their taxes regularly, as they cannot evade them but for some unknown reason the government’s focus is always on this honest taxpaying segment.
What baffles me is that instead of looking for avenues to increase the tax base and thereby rake in more income, Chidambaram and his cronies are taking recourse to older sins. They are creating a big din about tax reforms without actually touching the core of the problem.
Complicating an already confusing tax system doesn’t need, in my opinion, great ingenuity. However, simplifying the existing system requires a lot of time, effort, and a stroke of genius. The government has shown how bare its cupboard is at the top. The axe of tax is sharpened on the stooping backs of the salaried man.
The government has fired the latest salvo against the salaried class by replacing the single page Saral Tax Return with a four-paged successor simply titled Form No. 2F. They believe it’s their idea of a simplified tax form, as if completing a four-page tax return which seeks to peep into your backyard asking embarrassing details is more simple than any one-page return. It is the most un-saral way of filing tax return.
The assessees now have to grapple with a lot more questions and posers than before while filling the form and will have to invariably seek the assistance of an income tax practitioner or a qualified chartered accountant. The assessee has to disclose more information on how he or she has earned the income and how it was spent during the year. This is the government’s idea of a simple tax return. One look at the new form will give you the impression that the salaried classes are the ones evading tax and the government is trying to plug the loopholes.
The new form requires that no statement showing computation of income, Form 16, proof of tax paid etc should be enclosed. Before you start smiling assuming it’s a great idea, I must caution you that all these documents of evidence supporting your claim/computation must be retained with you safely and produced on demand in the event of verification by the tax authorities. That means you need to be much more meticulous in affairs of tax and need to keep all the supporting proofs filed year-wise.
The new form has 2 parts – Part A and Part B.
Part A:
All general information needs to be filled in Part A.
There are about 20 points of general information such as Name, PA Number, Address, Occupation, Income, Particulars of Bank account, Cash and Bank balance, etc that one needs to fill up in this section.
Part B:
Another 21 points of information regarding computation of income including income from all sources, permissible deductions, and tax thereon are to be furnished in Part B.
Apart from these, there are 9 other schedules to be filled up with all relevant information including the highly controversial 5th schedule, which requires a detailed cash flow statement to be furnished and that I believe is the crux of the problem. It is highly insulting and impractical for a salaried employee to furnish cash flow statement explaining to the authorities what he did with his income... come on Mr. Chidambaram, give us honest citizens a break!
I am sure most of the salaried people will be more concerned about and become adept at preparing Cash and Funds Flow statements but may slowly neglect and lose their primary skills. May be not, but the fear is always there. The only benefit, as I see it, is that the corrupt income tax officials; the income tax practitioners, and the chartered accountants will be smiling all the way to the bank lockers or wherever their stashed loot is. It does nothing to increase the income for the government but it definitely increases the headache for the assessee who now has to rush to the income tax practitioners for seeking advice while filing the return.
Do I see the income tax practitioners and the chartered accountants licking their fingers in anticipation even as the salaried classes are licking their wounds?
mbfarookh
p.s. I request all MS members who are employed and are concerned about this to interact and share their views on whether this new IT Return Form is the way to go or whether it will cause great hardship to the much harassed salaried class.
