Reforms in Indirect Taxes – Lok Satta submits report to CVC

By Vijay Kumar

Lok Satta informs DDT that after the two workshops at Hyderabad and Mumbai (attended by a large number of departmental officers and a few assessees), the final report has been submitted to the CVC. The contents of the recommendations had been analysed in detail in these columns. The letter from Lok Satta to CVC mentions three major areas which need urgent attention of the CBEC and CVC.

++ Issuing Show-Cause Notices based on CAG objections. The CVC and CBEC may please pursue the matter with CAG to resolve such matters.

++ Interest for delayed payments to be fair and equitable. The CVC may discuss with CBEC and reconcile the issues fairly and equitably.

++ Overlap in the functional domain of the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and Customs department, when the offices of the DGFT and Central Excise & Customs Department are being electronically connected for data transmission and verifications. In the new context, a separate DGFT has no rationale. Therefore, DGFT can be disbanded, and its functions, along with personnel, can be merged with the Customs department. As a consequence, the assessee (importer / exporter) will be spared of unnecessary visits to multiple organizations. CVC may have to pursue this matter with the concerned ministries and agencies.

Whatever be the shortcomings of the Lok Satta workshops that DDT had brutally castigated, it must be conceded that the above three suggestions from the NGO are simply great and deserve the immediate attention of the Government. And who better than the CVC to influence the Government to the right path?

The CVC in his letter to Lok Satta, while wishing for a better participation from the trade, was all praise for the positive outlook on the part of the departmental officials. A Commissioner who attended the Hyderabad workshop told me, “ I don’t take anything in a casual manner; if it was worth travelling all the way to Hyderabad, it was worth taking the deliberations seriously” I was witness to a Chief Commissioner chiding a Commissioner in the workshop for suggesting to an assessee how he should plan his business. “You don’t give him suggestions on how to run his business, you tell him whether his suggestion can be accepted and if not, why not”, the Chief Commissioner told the Commissioner. Very positive people indeed.

The CVC was so pleased with the programme that he asked Lok Satta to explore the possibility of such programmes for other departments.

“Having whetted our appetite in this manner, could I now ask you whether we could plan a similar exercise in respect of a few other departments like Income Tax, Employees Provident Fund Organisation etc”, asked the CVC.