Taxmen to rein in parallel economy

FM asks I- T officials not to harass honest tax payers

Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Monday asked the income tax officials to squeeze the parallel economy in a transparent manner but assured that honest taxpayers have nothing to fear about the new black money law.

He also hinted at coming out with more steps on squeezing black money.

The finance minister asserted that the policy of the Modi government is that nobody should be harassed and the evaders should not succeed.

Mr Jaitley said that if the tax base and collection rises, then the government’s ability to give concessions in terms of rates to honest taxpayers will also go up.

He exhorted the senior officers of the income tax department to be prompt in redressing the grievances of the tax payers, expand the tax base in a nonintrusive manner even as they strive to achieve the revenue generation targets. He said that the honest tax payers should not be afraid of the Black Money Bill, recently passed by the Parliament as it is targeted against those who have stalked their illegal assets abroad.

“The parallel econo- my has to be squeezed... And ( it) has to be done in very fair manner, not in a harsh manner. In doing so, as senior officers, you have to maintain the highest standard of integrity,” he said while addressing a conference of top officials of the Central Board of Direct Taxes ( CBDT).

The finance minister acknowledged that the task of the tax department is unenviable and it is often upbraided even for performing its duties. He said that revenue is needed to meet the expenditure requirements of infrastructure and social sector among others. He also added that expenditure helps in achieving the higher economic growth.

“Every well meaning advisor will tell you, tax base has to be expanded. Black money has to be squeezed out and at the same time if you take steps to do that, you have to listen to the taunt of draconian steps which are being taken,” said Mr Jaitley.

He also spelt- out his vision of an internationally competitive tax regime with a stable policy and a non- adversarial tax administration. He said that India has to bring the tax rate at global level while at the same time remove the exemptions.