Kelkar task force to submit revised report by Dec

MUMBAIU: The Kelkar task force on direct and indirect taxes will submit revised reports to the Union Finance Ministry by the first week of next month, incorporating suggestions received from various sections of the society.
"We have so far visited Pune, Ludhiana, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Mangalore among other cities and have received more than 1,500 comments through e-mail. On the basis of these suggestions, we will revise the reports wherever necessary and submit the same by December first week", Vijay Kelkar, advisor to Union finance minister, said here last night.
Addressing a symposium on direct and indirect taxes, organised by Prabhodhan Prakashan, a pro Shiv Sena outfit, he said these reports would be made public for further comments.
The published reports were just consultative papers and not a final document. Finance minister Jaswant Singh wanted the budget process to be made more transparent and hence this exercise, Kelkar said.
He said the tax system has become dysfunctional and a victim of "exemption raj", where few people get the benefits of concessions. Hence, it has become necessary to remove all the exemptions and reduce the tax burden on the public.
"We have to create a system, which is fair to the younger generation and hence it is proposed to have a single page tax form and an automatic refund mechanism", Kelkar added.
On housing subsidy, which the report has recommended to be removed, he said if the government provides a subsidy, it should be for everybody and not only for the taxpayer.
Referring to the proposal that agricultural income be taxed, Kelkar said a survey has shown that non-agriculturists were taking benefit of this exemption.
The task force has proposed that state governments should empower the Centre to tax such non-agriculturists and the amount collected could later be given back to states, he said.
The report has proposed methods to bring out more accountability in the tax department by suggesting an ombudsman and submission of a report by income tax department every year to the Parliament, he added.
Prabhodan Prakashan trustee Uddhav Thackeray said that whenever government wanted to increase tax revenues, it levied additional tax on the existing taxpayers.
Chartered Accountant and a panelist Makarand Herwadkar said currently refunds to the tune of Rs 11,000 crore were lying with the IT department and suggested that the concerned officers should be penalised for the same.