Simplify tax further and make tax compliance hassle free. The best way is to introduce transaction tax at source.
Taxes are plenty but not good enough to bring in equity and equality in the generation and distribution of national wealth. Now we have GST,CGST, ST , Direct Tax, indirect Tax,Tax on oil and liquified gas apart from property tax, stamp duty, Registration Charges and other surcharges etc. The charm of living in the presence of all kinds of levies right from from cradle to grave literally and in the absence of ease of living due to all possible irritants from the authorities at all levels of life stages from Childhood to old age is obviously absent is a fact and definitely not an exaggeration.
These are all the days of digital transactions and paper less work. However, life is made miserable by all sorts of hurdles and irritants. This is what is the experience and ground reality not only to the so called common man but for all human beings except perhaps to those in power. But for some octogenarians perhaps, people by and large dislike any type of paperwork and even any hard meticulous calculations involving lots of rules and mind boggling arithmatical jugglery.This sort of tax assessment, collection, and overseeing the accuracy therein always gives room for doubt on the very integrity of data, amount of collections, the vast scope for escape routes and tax compliance and generation of corrupt practices of all kinds upsetting and distorting the figures making the decision making process not only a difficult process but also a less satisfying one in terms of results. Covering 140 crores of people and making them comply with tax laws individually is a herculean task.The best and easiest way to augment tax and cover majority of the population is to levy tax at source of transactions and monitoring the collection of taxes without pilferage of tax collection. The people will welcome any tax at source and will be relieved of filing of tax returns. If inevitable, returns can be there for those who have really very high levels of income from multiple sources and are above a cut off limit of say Rs 50 lakhs or one crore and above. Filing of returns for those just above a cut off limit of Rs 2.50 lakhs is ridiculous in these days of high inflationary conditions and a very large segment of the population earn this amount even in villages. Poverty seems to have been eliminated to a great extent but poverty of data is not taken care of causing all sorts of inconveniences, inconsistencies and inaccuracies in the enunciation of policies leading to unsatisfactory results and avoidable criticisms.The benefits of noble thoughts do not get translated into actions and this needs to be sorted out early to enjoy the Ramarajya by the masses.
The present generation of people seem to be techno savvy and they prefer technology oriented approach to reading and writing unlike the old generation. In such a background, the compliance to the tax system by submission of returns involving myriad calculations after understanding and complying with varied provisions, rules and regulations seem to be unacceptable and people having no knowledge of technology have a tendency to evade / avoid submission of returns as a matter of convenience and definitely not with intentions to violate the compliance requirements. Tax at source is the best source of instant revenue and the majority of taxpayers can have a sigh of relief from filing of returns. Even the categories of individuals left out of tax payments can be covered comfortably.
The Government needs revenue and people can have no choice to avoid any levies . Compliance to law though desirable but is not always practicable due to the presence of all kinds of hassles and evasive tendencies for the heck of it. Out of 140 crores people Income tax assessees are only less than only 10 crores is something ridiculous and by any reckoning of living standards of people witnessed all around, this number is unacceptable to any average intelligent common man. Time has therefore come to relook into the ways of earnings people have and capture the accurate data of all to the satisfaction of the statisticians first, the tax authorities , tax payers, tax evaders and all people who care for the welfare of all.
Since the majority of Income tax payers come from the category of Salaried class, pensioners and their composition of income is generally limited to a very few highly standardised items, it should be possible to ensure tax levies at source and exempt this category from submission of returns. Even for individuals other than the salaried and pensioners, the best approach would be to tax them at source with the aid of Artificial Intelligence and if found very necessary then only make them file a return. It would be possible for authorities to monitor at macro level and tax at source to avoid suspicion of evasion and follow up individually. With proper education, adherence of laws, and fixing accumulation of money by using all available means and keeping track of monetary transactions digitally and otherwise if any by chance and discouraging all possible corrupt practices through monitoring using AI and tracking exceptional transactions reporting by all kinds of financial and other institutions, the very concept of Individual income tax can be reviewed and drastically altered if not eliminated altogether. All said it is time to augment tax collections by avoiding income tax returns and maintaining a huge army of people behind the supervision. It is high time to have a holistic view of the entire tax system and introduce innovative methods to levy taxes at source and keep monitoring accumulation of wealth at all levels through other means. When the Country is rich, human resources are highly intelligent and resourceful and there is abundant potential in terms of culture, heritage, civilisation, high tech capabilites and multitasking talents, it is not understood as to why the economy cannot and should not deliver to reduce the widening inequality, persisting inflation, unemployment and unhappiness for no valid ground with the backing of all capabilities. The immediate solution may be to have a revisit of taxation policies, identifying and removal of laxity in providing clean administration without any design and plans for corrupt practices and spreading the practices of value addition by adhering to the best of values and ethics in letter and spirit in whatever we do for public good in the upliftment of the society and community living. Time to have a fresh approach and bring in qualitative improvement of all aspects of Politics, economic , social and technology associated life.
Making money at any cost by all including the Government has its own adverse consequences of negative impact in the society affecting the happiness index, emotional life and overall well being of the people. It is time for every segment of the society particularly Academicians,Administrators,Professionals of all categories, Social reformers,Policy makers,Politicians,Religious leaders, Sages and Saints to introspect seriously and introduce suitable changes / measures to make living a happy and wonderful experience devoid of running only after material pursuits. Money is not everything and money can cause all evils in the Society is also a known truth.
The importance of data relating to wealth generation, wealth distribution, and wealth accumulation and wealth utilisation / mis utilisation cannot be ignored from the angle of equitable and expeditious development of the economy and reaching the pinnacle of economic growth and achieving welfare for all in the universe.
Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavanthu is possible not by money alone but also needs to be understood and realised by all .
T V G Krishnan
Senior Citizen
(Personal views).
