 TIOL-DDT 1915
03.08.2012
Friday
NOBODY has any doubts that PC means business. The Micro management Expert that he is, Palaniappan Chidambaram, has started serious work in the Finance Ministry. On his first day in office, he is understood to have asked for a list of the names of all officers, their telephone numbers and areas of work. He has no qualms of dealing with even junior officers, unlike his illustrious predecessor who would not deal with officers lower than the Chairmen of the Boards. Yesterday he is understood to have taken an exclusive meeting with the Members of the CBDT. Today he is scheduled to meet the Members of the CBEC. It is clear that he wants two working Boards and he is not interested in their internal squabbles. PC does not really inherit many top babus from his predecessor as two Secretaries and two Board Chairmen have retired and the most powerful lady in the Finance Ministry has moved with her boss to the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Most probably, PC will have a new Finance/Revenue Secretary. The Chief Economic Adviser Kaushik Basu has also left North Block to take up his teaching assignment in Cornell University. PC can start with a brand new team. Let us hope he gets results. Corruption and Bribery: The Kaushik View TWO years ago Dr. Kaushik Basu wrote a paper suggesting a way to cut down corruption. This is of course a large problem and, while we must work against the whole gamut of it, waiting to solve the whole problem must not become an alibi for doing nothing . It was with this in mind that he proposed one way of reducing one class of bribery: “harassment bribes”, defined as bribes that ordinary people often have to pay to get what is rightfully theirs, such as when a person's income tax refund or driving license is held back, with all formalities completed, till he/she agrees to grease palms. Basu says, Such bribes are just a segment of the large problem of corruption, but they are by no means negligible. For ordinary citizens, these are often the most ubiquitous forms of harassment at the hands of officialdom. My suggestion was that, for such crimes, we must not treat the ordinary citizen, who is the victim of this practice, on par with the official who takes the bribe, as our current law does. In particular, we should not punish the bribe giver but should instead make the penalty stiffer for the bribe taker and also require him to return the bribe. My belief is that if we make this kind of an amendment to India's Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, there will be a sharp decrease in bribery. This is because it will now be in the interest of the bribe giver to get the official who took the bribe caught. Knowing this, there will be much greater reluctance on the part of officials to take bribes. Soon after the British in India declared sati a crime, they went on to declare witnessing sati also a crime. Is there any surprise that the courts seldom found any witnesses for sati? One reason I refuse to partake in the debate about whether corruption enhances or thwarts growth is my view that corruption should be considered unacceptable in a civilized society no matter what it does to growth. In my life as an economic adviser, nothing distresses me more than the news breaks on corruption that we get ever so often. Our citizens deserve better. Human ingenuity is so great that no matter how many plugs we put in to stop corruption, people will almost invariably find a way around it. ¶Just as it is impossible to know when a fish moving in water is drinking it, so it is impossible to find out when government servants in charge of undertakings misappropriate money¶ - Kautilya‘s Arthashastra
Mr PC, Please Extend Due Date for Payment of Service Tax A Director in charge of taxation in a top Corporate House writes in: It has become very cumbersome to comply with the new provisions and requirements especially with respect to service tax payment by both the provider and the recipient especially in Cab operator, Man power recruitment and supply etc.,. Even it is becoming more complex in ascertaining the liability on these services, as the said services are provided by different entities following different practices. In this scenario, it would be very difficult for all the service tax assessees especially who are liable to pay under reverse charge/ on % basis by provider and recipient to arrive at the tax liable amount before 5th or 6th of the next month. Hence, it would be high time to the government to extend the due date for payment of service Tax preferably to 15th or 16th against the present due date of 5th or 6th.
In all the shake up happening in the North Block, is there somebody to listen to the poor tax payer who is the ultimate victim? Will PC listen? The 3 o'clock habit Sharing the Booty! IT seems in Philippines they have an organised system called the 3 o'clock habit every Friday, Customs employees gather at 3pm in the Customs Zone and share the week's booty/loot. It seems the money amounts to billions and even the Commissioner gets a share. DDT Weekend Cartoon 
Jurisprudentiol - Monday's cases  Customs
Secondhand Multifunction Photocopiers also require licence under Para 2.17 of the FTP - Ratio of Shivam International differed with - Even CESTAT and JDR's office are buying these machines as Photocopiers only - Confiscation, fine and penalty upheld: CESTAT The dispute relates to confiscation, imposition of fine and penalty on import of used Photocopiers which require licence in terms of Para 2.17 of the FTP. Income Tax Income tax - Whether when assessee has not claimed any depreciation on one set of plant and machinery not in use, same can still be treated as part of block of assets, and thus, can be assessed u/s 50 for capital gains arising on transfer - NO: HC THE issue before the Bench is - Whether when assessee has not claimed any depreciation on one set of plant and machinery not in use, the same can still be treated as part of 'block of assets', and thus, can be assessed u/s 50 for capital gains arising on transfer. NO is the HC's answer. Service Tax Law does not prohibit payment of ST on exempted services Appeal allowed with consequential relief: CESTAT THERE is no clause barring an assessee from paying tax on exempted services and claiming refund thereafter in the Finance Act, 1994 unlike in the case of payment of duty under the Central Excise Act. In view of this position, the findings of the lower appellate authority that the assessee could not have claimed refund under Notification No. 17/04 is not correct in law. See our columns Monday for the judgements Until Monday with more DDT Have a Nice Weekend |
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