New Delhi: The income tax department is looking to maximize revenue from companies with finance minister P Chidambaram on Monday instructing top officials to look at sectors that pay less than the average level of corporation tax as part of a "systematic and scientific" strategy to mobilize more resources.
During a meeting with chief commissioners of income tax, the minister pointed out that the average corporation tax was 24%, while the actual rate was 30%. In several sectors, companies are paying 10-22%, which may be because of the exemptions enjoyed by them, but will now come under the tax department's lens.
"Those are the areas where I have asked them to focus. I have asked them to look at it closely and see if the average can be increased," Chidambaram told a press conference after the meeting.
Although the minister refused to disclose the sectors that he wants the I-T department to track, officials present in the meeting said he had some sort of a list.
A senior officer said that typically, large companies tend to have a lower actual burden as they receive various exemptions ranging from area-based ones to those available to special economic zones and accelerated depreciation.
"The correct way to approach tax collection is to look at the sectors which are well below the average, then look at sectors which are closer to the average to see whether the average can be raised. Even if the average is raised from 24% to 26%, we will collect roughly Rs 30,000 crore," Chidambaram said while ruling out withdrawal of exemptions.
The statement came amid fears that the government will miss the tax collection target set for the current financial year, which Chidambaram said he was hopeful of achieving despite the slowdown.
"It is important that we approach this matter scientifically and in a systemic way rather than a hit and run way," he said, in what may be a reminder to a change in attitude towards taxpayers.
On several occasions, Chidambaram said that most tax payers – nine out of 10 – were honest, especially the salaried. At the same time, he said there was no need to fear a scrutiny by the department as it was a computergenerated system and a random check.  |
No comments:
Post a Comment