A less taxing time Focusing right
The ideas listed in S Kumar’s letter, “End tax exemptions” (March 1), as well as those in Ishan Bakshi’s article, “Data crunching: Are we a nation of tax evaders?” (February 28) — to which Kumar was responding — need to be examined and followed up on by policymakers.
In Budget proposals, the rich and powerful get exemptions factored in. There is no logic or rationale in continuing the exclusion of agricultural income for tax purposes, as it is being done at present. Those who benefit from huge tax waivers or exemptions do not share any of it with society when they prosper later.
With the launch of the goods and services tax, there will be an across-theboard rationalisation in taxation procedures outside the income tax (IT) net. The time is opportune to think of modalities to make IT less taxing for taxpayers.
The present legislative set-up and procedures give the impression that paying IT is a punishment for earning more and that one should not mind spending a fortune to avoid paying it. The package of tax concessions and the procedures followed by the IT department to collect taxes make one think along these lines.
Why not make the employer pay employment tax after making necessary adjustments in the compensation packages?
Alternatively, given the development of technology, it should be possible to have dedicated bank accounts for salary payments and receipts, including other incomes forming part of the taxable income. The only negative impact would be rendering some employees jobless in some departments and organisations, including chartered accountancy firms. M G Warrier Mumbai It was nice to read the two articles by Shubhomoy Bhattacharjee, “Why cheaper housing is the elephant in the room” (February 27) and “Building on the middle class dream” (March 1), as part of the series on affordable reading, the dream project of the Narendra Modi government. The fact that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation is making every effort to make the project successful is well known.
Most writing on affordable housing usually does not focus on issues such as land pricing, infrastructure development and connectivity issues. The two articles cite the issues, highlight the need to focus on reality of the real estate sector and the steps needed to achieve success.
I wish Bhattacharjee had written more about the statutory approvals required for real estate projects. At least two dozen approvals are needed; this makes life tough for the industry and even the best planned projects tend to get delayed.
A single-window clearance, like that in the telecom industry, would go a long way in the real estate sector. While that appears difficult — because land is a state issue requiring several clearances — something needs to be done.
Arbitrary changes to rules with retrospective effect cause delays, like in the case of projects on the banks of the Yamuna or in the Aravalli ranges being stopped for want of environment clearances. Easy access to debt will help. This has been addressed in a small way by adding affordable housing to the infrastructure sector.
I hope these points are included in future reports. These are issues that concern not only affordable housing but also the entire real estate sector.
Sunil Kumar Singh New Delhi