Top-level vacancies frustrating tax targets: CBDT

Three
weeks to go before presentation of India’s national budget and the finance
ministry called for urgent steps to fill top-level vacancies in the direct tax
administration as delays were affecting the realisation of targets.

Central
Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman S.S.N. Moorthy has even written to the
chairman of Union Public Service Commission requesting an urgent meeting of what
is called the departmental promotion committee for filling up the vacancies.

In the
letter, Moorthy says after the recent promotion of some officials to the grade
of chief commissioners, the vacancies in the posts of commissioners of income
tax had gone up to as high as 71.

Some of
these vacancies are in key circles of the tax administration in large metros
such as Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai, which account for the bulk of the
country’s direct tax collections.

“Needless to say, this is adversely affecting the efforts of the department in
meeting the revenue collection targets,” the tax board chief says in the letter
to Union Public Service Commission Chairman D.P. Agarwal.

The
letter also comes against the backdrop of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee
directing the Income Tax Department to make all efforts to achieve the revised
collection target of Rs.4,000 billion by the end of this fiscal.

India’s
direct tax collections have been just Rs.2,500 billion in the first nine months
of this fiscal, growing at 8.5 per cent over the corresponding period of the
previous year. In fact, personal income tax has actually seen a decline of 0.41
per cent. This has obviously made the tax administration jittery.

Senior
officials said one of the main ways to enhance tax collections would be by
regular sharing of information among the commissionerates and developing a
common database. But vacancies at the top slots are frustrating such efforts.

Revenue
Secretary Sunil Mitra is also holding an urgent meeting with 18 chief
commissioners of income tax here to review the shortfall in tax collections and
find ways to make it up.

(Source:
www.topnews.in dated 05.02.2010)

(Compiler’s
Note:
Revenue collection will increase when taxpayers are treated with respect and
trust due to a worthy customer. Today, an honest tax payer is the most harassed
lot as he finds himself unable to deal with the corrupt officials and has to
face time consuming and costly litigation. A dishonest taxpayer has the money to
smoothen his way. The FM should inculcate the habit amongst his officers to
treat the taxpayer with trust and respect. Otherwise, he will be killing the
goose which lays the golden egg!!!)