CHARGE SHEETS ISSUED TO THREE OFFICERS FOR 40% TAX-RATE PLAN
NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) initiated an inquiry on Monday and moved to punish three Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers for their roles and complicity in preparing and circulating a report that suggested raising the income-tax rate up to 40% to fund economic revival in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, a finance ministry official said.
NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) initiated an inquiry on Monday and moved to punish three Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers for their roles and complicity in preparing and circulating a report that suggested raising the income-tax rate up to 40% to fund economic revival in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic,a finance ministry official said.
“The three senior IRS officers – Prashant Bhushan (IRS-1988 ), Prakash Dubey (IRS-2001) and Sanjay Bahadur (IRS-1989) have been divested of their current responsibilities and formal orders in this regard have been issued,” the official said requesting anonymity. The board issued charge-sheets to the three, he said. The officers could not be contacted immediately. A finance ministry spokesperson confirmed the development.
According to the orders, copies of which were reviewed by HT, the officers have been given 15 days to submit written submissions in their defence.
The IRS Association’s Twitter handle and website put up a report titled Fiscal Options & Response to Covid-19 Epidemic (FORCE) on Saturday that suggested increasing the top income tax rate to 40%, imposing a levy on the so-called super-rich and a 4% Covid-19 relief cess to rebuild the nation’s economy, reeling under the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown. The government on Sunday rejected the report, terming it “ill-conceived,”HT reported on Monday.
Two of the IRS officers are executive members of the association. Bhushan is the general secretary and Dubey its joint secretary. Association president Binay Kumar Jha did not respond to phone calls and text messages from HT. “The report created panic and tax policy uncertainty in the already stressed economic conditions in the country. It is also found that these officials misguided their junior officials in participating the unauthorised activity. The government, therefore, may take a lenient view with regard to the junior officials,” the ministry official mentioned above said.
About 50 IRS officials had participated in the preparation of the report. Bhushan was charged with making the report public without any authority. Dubey with involving junior officers in the preparation of the report without any authority. Bahadur gave the unauthorised report (to) the IRS Association, the finance ministry official said.
“These senior officers, despite having more than 30 years of service, failed to exercise due care and went on to misguide the 50 young officers,” he added.