By Ibu Sanjeeb Garg
Beating the Rhetoric
‘Kosh Mulo Dand” loosely translated into “Treasury is the backbone of administration” is the motto of the Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax), which they proudly display in their logo. This quote attributed to Chankaya, the great Indian Machiavelli speaks volumes about the important role taxation plays in the governance of a nation. Simply put, taxation is that hand that enables the government to embark on its developmental and growth path.
The recently concluded “Income Disclosure Scheme” has put much focus on Income Tax Department in the country. The scheme has been touted a massive success with total declarations under the scheme crossing more than Rs. 65,000 crores bringing almost 29,000 crore to the government’s kitty. Critics have argued that the response to the scheme has been lacklustre compared to the VIDS (Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme) floated in 1997. Also they argue that with each declaration less than 1 crore the scheme has not achieved the desired results. Others argue that while the latest study by the NIPFP (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy) pegs black money at 75% of the GDP, the taxes collected under 2016 pales in comparison.
Yet it would be wrong to discount the efforts of the department as well as the government in this scheme. The oft repeated comparison with the VIDS makes for some interesting analysis. The VIDS scheme was essentially an amnesty scheme where the taxation rates were pegged at 30% while IDS was merely a voluntary scheme where the rates stood at 45%. While critics would argue that 45% is a high rate, yet one must not forget that this is the income that had previously been not declared by the taxpayer. An honest taxpayer eventually pays taxes at the rate of 32-33% and for someone who has not entirely been honest a slightly higher tax rate only seems logical. Also the value of the assets in VIDS floated in 1997 was taken not at 1997 but in 1987 bringing down the effective rate of taxation to almost single digit. On the other hand in IDS the value of assets was to be calculated as on 01 June 2016.
Secondly much has been made of the fact that the value of each declaration stood at almost one crore each, given the fact that there were almost 64000 declarants in the scheme. However one must remember that this scheme is voluntary in nature. Black money is not a phenomenon that is limited to big fish alone. A small trader can hide sales and make a profit of something like 50 lakhs which he would have hidden in the books for the past five years. Many such mid level traders and businessmen would have come clean in this scheme. Hence harsh criticism based on the fact that the value of each disclosure is valued at only a crore each is unfound.
The third criticism relates to the total declarations obtained being much less compared to the total size of black money is. This has less to do with failure of the department and more with the character of taxation itself. Taxation is essentially a negative function of the state; some of the best tax administered states of the world have some of the strongest laws. Thus in India while laws are often called complex little is made of the need to nudge population to pay taxes. Managing perceptions of how taxation affects our lives and plays a role in nation building, plays an important role in compliance. And IDS left no stone unturned to nudge people towards the same.
The greatest success of the scheme however is not limited to the taxes collected alone. While the exact figures of black money are subject to speculation yet it is indeed laudable that the government has launched a number of reforms in recent times to curb the same. Over the past few years measures like curbing cash transactions, furnishing PAN numbers, informing income tax authorities for certain transactions have controlled the flow of black money in the economy. The direct taxes department now makes extensive use of ICT to scan for possible tax offenders. Today the department can track even those tax offenders who do not have PAN. An archaic system of scrutiny assessment has been replaced by the algorithmic Computer Aided Selection System. While the precision of the algorithm is subject to discussion there is no doubt that each of this measure has boosted the direct tax administration in the country. The fight against black money continues and it is in this realm that IDS 2016 would serve as an important milestone forward.
( The views expressed by the author are personal)