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NT Bureau
Chennai, Sept 8:
 

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan releasing a souvenir today at the Kumbhat Memorial Conference and the first copy was received by All India Tax Payers Association president N Rangachari. Also seen are Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Chennai, C R Ravichandhran and AITPA secretary V Murali.

        Union government was called upon today to publish the draft of the proposed Income Tax Act to elicit the broader opinion of the public and the intelligentsia before passing the Bill in the Parliament.

        Moreover, a permanent forum consisting of tax payers and the concerned department should be formed for a regular interaction between those who pay and collect tax in the country. 'There is a need to deliberate on tax laws from the overall importance of national development, even as there are lot of issues agitating tax payers, administration and the policy makers,' said K Rahman Khan, deputy chairman, Rajya Sabha. He was delivering the inaugural address at the Kumbhat Memorial Conference on the topic of 'A Practical Approach to Current Issues on Income Tax'. Stating the tax laws were complicated and almost the over 600 Sections were being challenged in the courts, Rahman Khan said the public should be given a forum to discuss on the nitty-gritties of various clauses and amendments related to taxation.

        Excessive and arbitrary taxes would result in evasion and instead the focus should be on voluntary compliance by the tax payers, he said. 'Tax laws are uncertain and being changed frequently which make them impossible for the public to understand. Before making changes or passing new laws in taxation, the government should facilitate a thorough discussion among experts and the public for understanding their provisions, he said. Income tax department should adopt a transparent procedure in levying and assessing the tax and there should be commitment on the part of evaluating officers to do justice in their profession. 'If tax evasion is reprehensible and a social injustice to fellow citizens, then arbitrary levying of taxes by the department is also equally condemnable,' said Rahman Khan. If the government has to function as a welfare state and sustain its war on poverty and illiteracy, besides implementing schemes for the masses, then tax collection was a vital source of revenue for national growth, he declared.

        In his address, C R Ravichandhran, Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Chennai, said the widening gulf between the rich and the poor was a major cause of concern. Hence, it was the social responsibility of chartered accountants to advise their clients on the need to pay tax on time, he said. Tax laws were dynamic in nature and dependent on social, economic, political and technological needs of the time. Shifting from an insulated economy to being integrated with global economy, the country would see more changes in tax laws in the times ahead, he averred.

        Government should come forward to publish the new Income Tax Act and disseminate it widely for a debate on changes in tax laws, said N Rangachari, president, All India Tax Payers Association (AITPA) and former chairman of IRDA, the regulatory arm of insurance industry. The pulse and views of the tax-paying public and the experts should not be ignored in the new IT Act which was expected to be introduced in the Parliament.

        The socio-economic reality in India should be understood properly while studying the tax laws of countries like the US and UK for making changes and amendments in the existing system of tax administration, explained Ved Jain, vice-president, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

        AITPA secretary V Murali said the professionals have to create awareness in the society on the need to comply with tax provisions. In the knowledge era, changes have to be assimilated to move ahead with times, he said.