Income Tax in CBSE Syllabus?
THE Central Board of Secondary Education – CBSE – is flooded with requests from several Government Departments, including Income Tax and armed forces and even industry bodies to include their work in the Social Science Syllabus in schools. The CBSE is not really impressed and does not want to add to the burden of the students by making the Social Science syllabus even more bulky.
But our Customs, Excise and Service Tax Department does not figure even in the consideration zone. ‘Indirect Taxes' has no significant place in the syllabus of any university for the LAW course.
Dhirubhai Ambani was not keen on recruiting IIM graduates, because they never learnt Indirect Taxes in the IIMs.
Nearly ten years ago, I interviewed the Chairman of the Bar Council of India for TIOL. I asked him:
While taxation laws are taught by many universities, the laws do not include Customs and Central Excise Laws, which have produced voluminous case laws and these taxes are the biggest source of revenue for the state. Don't you think Excise and Customs law should be included in the law curriculum?
And he told me:
It is a fact that Excise and Customs is an important branch of law. But as things stand, in the curriculum, we have 21 compulsory subjects and four optional papers and among them, taxation is one. However as Central Excise is generally a subject that has importance in urban areas where industries are located and Customs generally in port areas. As on date these two branches have become subjects of specialisation and not subjects which the average law practitioner in the country has to know or learn. Being a subject limited to major urban centres , though in terms of revenue, it contributes a major chunk to the national revenues, its impact is not universal in the sense that it does not touch all the legal practitioners in the community. For that matter, sales tax and income tax are also not compulsory subjects and at this stage, it may not be possible to include it in the compulsory subjects. Among the optional subjects, it may be included as part of taxation.
Maybe CBEC should tie up with the universities to introduce Indirect Taxes as subject in Post Graduate or Law courses.