I deplore the Hon’ble Minister of Finance for
snatching away from the Chartered Accountants’ community a particular moment of
happiness which they long for every year. What is that moment? I will come to
it in another moment.
A fox once woke up in a desert. He saw his
shadow which was very long. He thought to himself, ‘Oh! What a long shadow I
have! I must find a shelter for myself which will accommodate this long shadow
of mine!’
So he began to hunt for such a shelter in the
desert. He walked miles and miles but could not find a shelter befitting his
shadow. He was tired, sweating, hungry and thirsty. He was frustrated. Soon it
was high noon.
Tired and perspiring, he again looked at his
own shadow for which he was on this mission. When he saw it, he exclaimed to
himself, ‘Ah! What a fool I am! For such a small shadow I toiled for such a
long time unnecessarily’. So he found a small shelter and happily stayed there.
This is typical of a man who is very ambitious
in his youth. He wants to change the world. But later he realises that the
world is very ruthless and the going gets really tough. Then he derives
happiness even with the very little success which is much less than what he deserves,
and much within his ability.
When one passes one’s CA, one has a lot of
dreams. One feels that one will perform wonders in the financial world, or one
will perform one’s audit function very effectively and not tolerate nonsense in
accounts. One feels that one can win tax litigations purely on merits, on one’s
knowledge and presentation skills. But soon one realises that the means of
achieving success are totally different. If one does not want to compromise
with one’s conscience and ethics, one remains complacent with whatever little
one gets.
Thus, a common man’s happiness lies in getting
a good window seat in a local train!
But I was on the happy moment in a CA’s life
that occurs every year. Through the months of July to September, a CA is obsessed
with only one thought – Whether the due date of filing income tax returns will
be extended. He begs for it, dreams about it and prays for it. And once the
extension is announced by the Finance Minister, his joy is limitless.
But, alas! This year, in
the process of extending the Corona – Covid-19 lockdown period, the Government
(perhaps inadvertently, or maybe sensibly, for a change) on its own extended
the due date. It was a pleasant surprise that there were no representations, no
struggles, no appeals, no litigations and no writ petitions required for this.
It’s really a bounty!
So friends, relax during this lockdown period
and gather strength to beg for further extension of the tax filing date!
Good luck to all CAs.
