The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ‘VAT, service tax causing a churn in administration’

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Sunday, Nov 08, 2009
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

‘VAT, service tax causing a churn in administration’

Special Correspondent

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

TAX MATTERS: K. Rahman Khan (left), Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha at a tax conference in Bangalore on Saturday. M. Marulasiddaiah, president of Karnataka State Chartered Accountants’ Association; and Bharath Ji Agarwal (right), President, All-India Federation of Tax Practitioners, are with him.

Bangalore: Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha K. Rahman Khan called for widening the tax base so that the Government can promote welfare and growth.

Mr. Khan was delivering the keynote address at a two-day national tax conference organised by the Karnataka State Chartered Accountants’ Association (KSCAA) and the south zone unit of the All India Federation of Tax Practitioners (AIFTP) on Saturday.

Mr. Khan pointed out that only 40 million Indians, out of a population of over one billion, were taxpayers.

He urged intellectuals and tax professionals “to ponder over the fact that this situation existed even though the country’s gross domestic product is over Rs. 3 trillion and the savings rate was about 35 per cent. “We cannot ignore the fact that corruption and tax evasion have assumed monstrous proportions,” he added.

Mr. Khan, himself a Chartered Accountant, said the Government had introduced new taxes such as the value added tax and the tax on services in order to meet the needs of a growing economy. “As a result, there has been a big shake-up in the tax administration and tax laws,” he said.

The Standing Committee on Finance would invite opinions from experts, practitioners and representatives of professional bodies on the tax code before formulating its stance on the Bill presented to it by the Union Finance Ministry, he said.

Referring to the fact that more than 150 countries would be adopting the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by 2011, Mr. Rahman Khan said: “Tax professionals need to understand that the certification process implies that they are trustees of society and not merely representatives of the companies they advise.”

Association president M.A. Marulasiddaiah said the conference would enable tax professionals to evaluate the current status of tax laws and the challenges to their implementation.

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