Clause (i) of sub-section (1) of section 2007
It’s past that time of year, time for all you procrastinators to get sent notices for failing to file your tax returns.
Which prompts me to ask when are we going to get some tax reform ?
We’ve been trying to get tax reform for over a hundred years when someone named Aamir Khan of “Lagaan” fame tried to figure out why they called cricket a “Gentleman’s Game” and discovered that the taxman, British or otherwise, was born without a soul.
And so today my tax return has not been filed and I am being notified, which means one of two things :
1) I’ve hit the big time.YEAAAAA ! Or …..
2) They’ve found out where I hide my booze for those dry days come election time. Bummer!
The problems methinx with the taxation system today is this:
@ The poor pay nothing.
@ The rich pay even less.
@ The large corporations get tax holidays.
@ The Government spends whatever little there is on hare-brained nuclear schemes.
@ No one else pays anything except you, me and ten people where you work.
@ The Commissioner of Income Tax is a guy named Santa Singh.
I propose therefore a tax reform in three phases which would be as follows:
1) We pay only One Hundred Rupees as tax.
2) Falsification of your tax return would be allowed.
3) Anyone who cuts you off in traffic would be thrown in jail (this is not really related, but folks, I've touted this idea to a number of persons and they tend to agree that it should be included.)
Manmohanji made tax reform the platform of his election speeches, just like he made tax reduction the platform of his budget presentations when he was Finance Minister.
He then went on to draw up a mysterious graph on Soniajis’sari pallu to show how the economics of supply and demand would be implemented by a three-pronged strategy of :
1) Importing wheat at exhorbitant prices.
2) Striking an Indo-US nuclear deal and….
3) Holding joint war games with them in the Bay of Bengal.
This is known as the Bakwaas Graph which allegedly shows that when you hold said sari in a certain light the government would make more money and the budget deficit would be reduced.
It wasn’t until recently that economists realized Soniaji had been holding her sari pallu sideways and then a wonderful thing happened. The opposition and the left front, a group of persons who have large pockets for the convenience of MNC’s wishing to make large contributions at midnight, developed a rare courage.
They look a hard look at facts and said: “Are we a bunch of pimps selling out the nation by taking large sums of foreign aid and giving them what they want? No! Let’s take large sums of foreign aid and NOT give them what they want!”
It is a brave step by these courageous men and women, a step that will take them beyond brokering into the realm of international faud.
It is to be hailed as a positive step in the annals of Indian fiscal jurisprudence.
And this is how we will achieve tax reform.
You ask how tax reform will affect you, the common man. The answer is that it will change your lives exponentially.
Let’s assume you are a middle-class family with two children and both parents are working. You also have occasional electrical problems where voltage fluctuations short-circuit your appliances two days after the warranty expires.
With the new system, you will get about a dozen unintelligible forms from the government to fill up, and with your electrical problems taking priority you will put off doing anything about these forms till the very last day, then you will be confused by the directions and will realise that you have spent your tax money on bribing the electricity department and have not kept receipts for the generator and the petrol.
Then you will worry about being notified.
Other than that things will not change and Santa Singh will still be the Commissioner.
